The Little Encyclopedia of Fairies: An A-to-Z Guide to Fae Magic

by Ojo Opanike

From the mountains of Northern Italy to the remote forests of Nigeria, diverse fairies from around the world come together in this little encyclopedia . . . 

Naughty and nice, unpredictable and typically tiny, fairies remain one of the most enduring folk creatures, featuring in mythologies across cultures and throughout history. This little encyclopedia rounds up more than 90 fairies from around the world,   And so many more! With detailed illustrations throughout, this book offers a fun and information-packed guide to these small yet powerful beings.
 

Genres: Fantasy, Mythology

144 pages, Hardcover

Published February 6, 2024

Reviews

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book that was passed onto me for a review and since I am a bit aware of the topic I was up for at least seeing what was occurring within the pages of this particular book.

First of all I am happy that the author did make mention that the book wasn't quite about the fae folk in general but rather about the wide category of similar beings who may share some similar traits. As a result the reader will find not only the fae in here but also elementals, some demons/ghosts, etc. And since it is such a small book that only means that it is a handful of these creatures with some rather well-known beings and others that may be new to the reader who ins't into such lore.

My main concern with this book, though, is what the focal for the book was suppose to be about. The title clearly uses fae magic in its title and within my previous reading history such works are normally New Age books of magick or something similar that encourages the reader practitioner to invoke such beings for their own gain or worship but this book wasn't quite in that realm even though mentioning you could domesticate Aitvaras, which is a weird way of saying so since I wouldn't call it domesticating. Although the book did give a nod towards that way at the end it did not provide the seeking human reader with any information that could be used as safety measures for the most part when attempting contact with such forces or emphasis on the type of wary reverence you should use (in my opinion I wouldn't recommend any contact whatsoever whether you believe in such beings or not).

Besides that the book does provide the reader with a collection of sample creatures that is placed in alphabetical order thus the reader will find themselves culturally jumping back-and-forth instead of focusing on generally any one area. Furthermore although the book does allude to some of the darker nature some of these beings are known for, it is pretty much still watered down for light reading but not enough light reading as to make it a decent read for younger children even with its various pop cultural trivia.

At the same time I did find some issues within the book that bugged me. A bunch of entries had no descriptions of the creatures that were being mentioned such as the Achachila, which was mentioned as having two forms while the human one isn't the one being referred to in the entry. Furthermore there were points in which the entry was culturally one way such as the Aos Sí but the information within the entry mentioned another groups such as in this case the Scottish. And who would consider scaring horses a benign act?

There were some grayscale illustrations but they were very basic and generic in their presentation thus didn't really add much more to the information being discussed.

All in all it was a rather decent starter book for those who are into fae lore, mythoi or even fantasy writing since they will get an interesting glimpse into some creatures that we pay very little attention to nowadays. And for those who aren't well let's just say it will open your eyes that the fae are not as sugary sweet as we have made them out to be in recent years....

[alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crosscultural and cute :)

[Amanda Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd little encyclopedia that explores "fairies" from different cultures but undercuts the multi-cultural approach it takes by sub-titling the book with the term Fae Magic. (Fae are specific to historically Celtic regions as Yoaki are specific to Japan, even if these creatures' stories and influences have reached international heights).

I did enjoy this little encyclopedia for what it is, and I appreciated that the author attempted to entomologically define fairies at the beginning to give bounds to the entires. However, the organization and consistency of the book are lacking. Entries do not provide consistent descriptions of the creatures cataloged. Sometimes, entries include regions or information around habitat; other times, this information is omitted. I enjoyed that, unlike many sources that focus heavily on European folklore, this collection had a fair balance of representation from many cultures. This alone helps elevate the book to something I'd recommend, as this representation is highly important and may encourage readers to seek more information on the folklore of a region they are unfamiliar with.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started reading this because I am reading the Emily Wilde book. I wish it was organized by location and not alphabetically. I do like the fact that there are a lot of different types included, for it being a small book. I wish there was more to the tales or how similar they are to other cultures. I did like the small sprinkles of pop culture referencing certain fairies.

[Lenno Vranken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een handig zakboekje dat je van A-tot-Z meeneemt door de wereld van verschillende soorten feeën.
Technisch gezien rijkt het boekje maar van A-tot-Y en is de informatie herin slechts zeer beperkt. Ook lijken er een aantal elfensoorten te missen. Waar zijn de kelpies? Waar zijn de selkies? En zo zijn er nog een paar die ik niet in dit werk kon terugvinden.
desondanks een vernuftig naslagwerk om bij de hand te hebben (zeker als je een boek schrijft over elfenmythes) en ik heb zeker een aantal dingen bijgeleerd.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned about a lot of different faerie and mythological creatures from around the world. I wish there was a pronunciation guide, as there were a lot of strange looking words from other cultures. I was disappointed that there were no creatures from Australia. And though it is an A-to-Z guide, there is no Z (or I, Q, R, or W)!

[MKF]

Definitely a topic I don't read about but my daughter found this in adult new non-fiction section at the library. Being an adult book and knowing what popular things authors include that's inappropriate. I learned a lot more about fairies then I really wanted to know but I do like to learn new things.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book, but would have loved a bit more organization. Fairies are presented alphabetically, not by culture, region or even something like common styles of fairy (eg. water fairies, lucky/unlucky fairies. Still great to leaf through!

[StephenPaul ChaseJr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gabrielle v · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big fan

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best of the four, I think. And it only cited 3 Wikipedia entries!

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very simple and easy to read. I don't know enough about folklore to confirm accuracy or depth, but there's little enough information that this is more of a primer than an actual solid resource.