What do you think?
Rate this book
Brian Froud's Faeries' Tales
Following in the footsteps of Trolls, Brian and Wendy Froud lead readers deep into the world of faeries. Humans throughout history have always had special relationships and bonds with faeries, whether loving and helpful or at times destructive. This new book explores that complex relationship and the liminal state between the human and faery world where interaction occurs.
In Brian Froud’s Faeries’ Tales, readers encounter individual faeries, each with a story to uncover, as told by the faeries themselves. Many of the stories are familiar to humans, but the “true” story is told by the faeries. Similar to the Trolls fragments, the faeries’ tales are coupled with portraits and interspersed with drawings and studies of the mysterious and enchanting folk who travel back and forth between the human world and theirs.
In Brian Froud’s Faeries’ Tales, readers encounter individual faeries, each with a story to uncover, as told by the faeries themselves. Many of the stories are familiar to humans, but the “true” story is told by the faeries. Similar to the Trolls fragments, the faeries’ tales are coupled with portraits and interspersed with drawings and studies of the mysterious and enchanting folk who travel back and forth between the human world and theirs.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published September 16, 2014
7 people are currently reading
454 people want to read
About the author
Brian Froud
76 books918 followersBrian Froud is an award-winning illustrator, author, and faery authority. His books include the international best-sellers Faeries, Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book, Lady Cottington's Fairy Album, and The Faeries' Oracle. He also served as the conceptual designer on Jim Henson's films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Froud lives in Devon, England.
----------------------
"I paint the spirit and soul of what I see." - Brian Froud
For over 35 years, Brian Froud has been regarded as the pre-eminent faerie artist in the world and an authority on faeries and faerie lore. His international best-selling book, FAERIES with fantasy and Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee is considered a modern classic. His landmark work with Jim Henson as conceptual designer on feature films THE DARK CRYSTAL, LABYRINTH and other Henson projects set new standards for design, puppeteering and animatronics in film and are considered landmarks in the evolution of modern day special effects and attract an international cult following . With over 8 million books sold to date, Brian's international best sellers include LADY COTTINGTON'S PRESSED FAIRY BOOK, GOOD FAERIES / BAD FAERIES and THE FAERIES' ORACLE and LADY COTTINGTON'S FAIRY ALBUM. Other works with text by Ari Berk include GOBLINS!, RUNES OF ELFLAND, LADY COTTINGTON PRESSED FAIRY LETTERS and BRIAN FROUD'S WORLD OF FAERIE. His latest books are THE HEART OF FAERIE ORACLE, authored by his wife, Wendy and HOW TO SEE FAERIES, with New York Times best-selling author, John Matthews are published by Abrams Books. He and Wendy are now working on their forthcoming book, TROLLS, to be published by Abrams in 2012.
Brian's work has been licensed by numerous licensing companies internationally. His work inspires Faerieworlds and FaerieCon, festival events that attract over 30,000 guests annually. Brian created concept designs for a sequel to THE DARK CRYSTAL, produced by the Jim Henson Company and is developing concept designs for feature film projects now in development. He and Wendy created the story concept for a graphic novel series based on THE DARK CRYSTAL to be published by Archaia Comics in 2011. His work has been featured in exhibitions throughout the world and his paintings reside in many private and public collections. Brian lives in Devon, England with his wife, internationally acclaimed doll maker Wendy Froud.
----------------------
"I paint the spirit and soul of what I see." - Brian Froud
For over 35 years, Brian Froud has been regarded as the pre-eminent faerie artist in the world and an authority on faeries and faerie lore. His international best-selling book, FAERIES with fantasy and Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee is considered a modern classic. His landmark work with Jim Henson as conceptual designer on feature films THE DARK CRYSTAL, LABYRINTH and other Henson projects set new standards for design, puppeteering and animatronics in film and are considered landmarks in the evolution of modern day special effects and attract an international cult following . With over 8 million books sold to date, Brian's international best sellers include LADY COTTINGTON'S PRESSED FAIRY BOOK, GOOD FAERIES / BAD FAERIES and THE FAERIES' ORACLE and LADY COTTINGTON'S FAIRY ALBUM. Other works with text by Ari Berk include GOBLINS!, RUNES OF ELFLAND, LADY COTTINGTON PRESSED FAIRY LETTERS and BRIAN FROUD'S WORLD OF FAERIE. His latest books are THE HEART OF FAERIE ORACLE, authored by his wife, Wendy and HOW TO SEE FAERIES, with New York Times best-selling author, John Matthews are published by Abrams Books. He and Wendy are now working on their forthcoming book, TROLLS, to be published by Abrams in 2012.
Brian's work has been licensed by numerous licensing companies internationally. His work inspires Faerieworlds and FaerieCon, festival events that attract over 30,000 guests annually. Brian created concept designs for a sequel to THE DARK CRYSTAL, produced by the Jim Henson Company and is developing concept designs for feature film projects now in development. He and Wendy created the story concept for a graphic novel series based on THE DARK CRYSTAL to be published by Archaia Comics in 2011. His work has been featured in exhibitions throughout the world and his paintings reside in many private and public collections. Brian lives in Devon, England with his wife, internationally acclaimed doll maker Wendy Froud.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 2, 2018
The Froud's can truly do no wrong in my book.
This is a collection of fay portraits along with a short snip of their stories. There is also a longer story about the 'Dusters' who collected the human version of these stories from our own memories. The book is huge and filled with Brian's breathtaking artwork. I read this yesterday afternoon after returning from a long journey. It was just what I needed to add a little magic to my day, banishing my 'funover' funk.
If you have not yet visited the World of Froud I highly suggest doing it soon.
This is a collection of fay portraits along with a short snip of their stories. There is also a longer story about the 'Dusters' who collected the human version of these stories from our own memories. The book is huge and filled with Brian's breathtaking artwork. I read this yesterday afternoon after returning from a long journey. It was just what I needed to add a little magic to my day, banishing my 'funover' funk.
If you have not yet visited the World of Froud I highly suggest doing it soon.
September 17, 2024
art? 10/10 beautiful, stunning, iconic
the writing really fell flat for me, especially compared to his other faerie book
the writing really fell flat for me, especially compared to his other faerie book
November 18, 2014
I loved this book especially the beautiful art
work. Just ordered Trolls.
work. Just ordered Trolls.
December 22, 2021
I love Brian and Wendy Froud's magical work (speficially in movies such as The Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal) and after years of just admiring this in my collection, I've finally read it!
This was such a bargain too for only a quid or so, in a charity shop a few years back!
I recall reading Good Faeries, Bad Faeries from the library years ago and was incredibly enchanted.
The shinning of the pages, with the trick of the light, made it look like the Faeries were moving out of the corner of my eye.
I love all the different textures on the page (e.g. sculptures, painting, sketches, props etc), it added to the whimsical and Earthiness of the whole thing.
The way the art tied into a main storyline was amazing. It felt wonderfully woven and I was thoroughly entertained, awed by the talent and just fully immersed. I kept going back to stare at pages that really captured my attention.
This was so unique and I loved it!
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén
This was such a bargain too for only a quid or so, in a charity shop a few years back!
I recall reading Good Faeries, Bad Faeries from the library years ago and was incredibly enchanted.
The shinning of the pages, with the trick of the light, made it look like the Faeries were moving out of the corner of my eye.
I love all the different textures on the page (e.g. sculptures, painting, sketches, props etc), it added to the whimsical and Earthiness of the whole thing.
The way the art tied into a main storyline was amazing. It felt wonderfully woven and I was thoroughly entertained, awed by the talent and just fully immersed. I kept going back to stare at pages that really captured my attention.
This was so unique and I loved it!
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén
October 12, 2014
There's always something strange and wonderful to be found in the art of Brian and Wendy Froud. I have enjoyed their work for years, from the first time I laid eyes on their concepts and designs for The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth to the volume that I'm reviewing today. The art is exceptional, sometimes amusing, sometimes disturbing, but always invoking thought. One of the early portraits in the book actually reminded me of my sweet, wrinkled little Mama, and it brought tears to my eyes for a brief second. The flow of the book is dreamy and often times disjointed, but I believe this is intentional to keep the reader a little askew in order to appreciate the capriciousness of the faeries that much more. I look forward to many more volumes from this excellent pair of artists, and will probably snap them up and gulp them down in one sitting very much like I did this particular piece. A word of advice in closing: make sure you take the time to really pay close attention to each page, or else you will miss the tiny and faded faeries that are lurking in the corners and backgrounds. It is totally worth the additional time spent perusing the volume!
August 3, 2015
This art is just...Wow.
October 16, 2019
I've read almost all of Brian Froud's illustrated books, and yet each one is a new revelation of the Faerie Folk. This book is a direct interaction with the fey, as Brian and Wendy Froud play court illustrators to the faeries through the storytelling medium of the Dusters. As the Dusters go about their business cleaning up the minds of humans they come across stories of the faeries in human memories, so they collect the memories to retell the faerie courts so that they remember their own stories. Once the fey remember who they are certain members will sit for the Frouds (whom the faerie call "the Two") to have their portrait and story more accurately collected so that humans don't forget them. Because of this frame story structure, we get mostly formal portrait style illustrations from Froud with some of his signature random layouts and a few 3D tableaus that are the creation of Wendy Froud. This isn't my favourite style of his books, but the quality of artwook is equally intricate and Proud definitely brings each character to life on the page. In sojme ways this book is Froud's attempt at traditional portraiture (in his own style, of course), but the insertion of Wendy's 3D puppetry and maquettes, the addition of 3D art pieces, and the randomly included sketches keep the book from becoming staid - all in typical Froud fashion, which refuses to be truely orderly. When we compare this book to some of Froud's earlier publications (dominated by the inimitable Lady Cottington series) we can definitely see a maturing in subject matter, even if his technical skills and overall themes remain par for the course. I will of course never stop wanting more of Froud's humorous faerie style, but I equally appreciate his delving into more serious styles of art to bring us new perspectives on his faerie friends!
August 8, 2019
I have a tendency to treat certain books with a deep reverence, waiting for the stars to align and conditions to be absolutely perfect before allowing myself to read them. My collection of Froud tomes is a good example. I have had this book for a few years, waiting for a perfect moment. Today was far from perfect but it was my moment with this book.
I have said this before and may say it again, but this is my favorite of all the Froud books on my shelves. The artwork is exquisite and the text true to the folklore as I understand it. The stories that the Faeries Themselves tell are not all sugarplums and rainbows, glitter and wish-granting. This inherent darkness is (in my opinion) an essential aspect so often overlooked (whether by ignorance or as a purposeful act).
THESE are the Faeries' Tales that I yearn for. I would give this book 10 stars, if possible.
I have said this before and may say it again, but this is my favorite of all the Froud books on my shelves. The artwork is exquisite and the text true to the folklore as I understand it. The stories that the Faeries Themselves tell are not all sugarplums and rainbows, glitter and wish-granting. This inherent darkness is (in my opinion) an essential aspect so often overlooked (whether by ignorance or as a purposeful act).
THESE are the Faeries' Tales that I yearn for. I would give this book 10 stars, if possible.
December 27, 2019
"Brian Froud's Faeries'Tales" is an astonishingly wonderful book.
It's like entering a magical world full of wondrous people you can't wait to meet and to hear about their stories. The illustrations are amazing, just for that this book deserves 5 stars.
Loved it!
It's like entering a magical world full of wondrous people you can't wait to meet and to hear about their stories. The illustrations are amazing, just for that this book deserves 5 stars.
Loved it!
October 17, 2019
I loved everything about this book❤️
May 1, 2022
Words aren't enough; this book is a work of art, a true treassure. I hope I'll be able to keep this book with me for the rest of my life.
February 5, 2023
I can't imagine giving any of Frouds books less than 5 stars. Utter magic.
Read
February 18, 2023DNF. I loved the artwork!!! I didn’t get the stories.
abandoned
August 22, 2023I am very aware that this is a beloved classic, but it didn't quite hit the spot for me.
February 12, 2024
Just one word: magical!
October 14, 2023
It's been too long since I've read a Froud book and this feels just like coming home ♥️ Tales of wonder and mischief and horror and magic and, in the end, hope. The artwork and sculptures are as wonderful as ever and now the other books are calling for a re-read
October 20, 2014
Beautiful stories that are given from a not-so-fairy point of view..Short narratives about faeries you recognize from a tale someone once told you and some you have never heard of, all equally interesting and heart-warming. The most impressive though were the drawings/portraits, which expressed what words cannot. In short, a book that will be appreciated mostly by the 'big' children..
July 17, 2015
Coffee-table size book with beautiful illustrations of all sorts of faeries and fairyland creatures. With some creatures crafted by wife Wendy Froud. Brian Froud includes wonderful tales to go along with their amazing artwork. I really enjoyed escaping into this world. The library's copy of this book is located in our oversize collection near the check out desk.
May 3, 2016
I love simply everything that Brian and Wendy Froud put out. It is always so magical
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews