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The Fairy Gothmother: A Collection of Cautionary Tales
Halloween isn't just on Halloween, if you know what I mean.
Come closer, my Pretty . . .
The Fairy Gothmother presents her spooky collection of cautionary tales, poems, and games in over 100 full color pages to haunt and delight the brave and curious.
Learn to play The Halloween Hunt , make a Bad Dream Box to banish nightmares, or snuggle under the covers and read what happens to unlucky children in Little Lucy Poppletred and Late Bloomers.
This collection from the Fairy Gothmother is a mashup of the dark storytelling traditions of Brothers Grimm and the humorous poetry of Edward Gorey and Shel Silverstein.
Hear the creaking door of a haunted house? She's inviting you inside.
Come in. If. You. Dare. . . .
Come closer, my Pretty . . .
The Fairy Gothmother presents her spooky collection of cautionary tales, poems, and games in over 100 full color pages to haunt and delight the brave and curious.
Learn to play The Halloween Hunt , make a Bad Dream Box to banish nightmares, or snuggle under the covers and read what happens to unlucky children in Little Lucy Poppletred and Late Bloomers.
This collection from the Fairy Gothmother is a mashup of the dark storytelling traditions of Brothers Grimm and the humorous poetry of Edward Gorey and Shel Silverstein.
Hear the creaking door of a haunted house? She's inviting you inside.
Come in. If. You. Dare. . . .
112 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2020
About the author
Jennifer Preston Chushcoff
16 books17 followersJennifer Preston Chushcoff is an award-winning author, artist and Master Gardener. Her stories and poems are published in anthologies, journals, and children's books. Her art appears in museums, galleries and private collections. You'll find her photo of Winston, her favorite furry muse, in the 2012 Shetland Sheepdog calendar. (He's Mr. October.) She lives in Tacoma, WA where she regularly frolics in the woods and water.
"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one." C.S. Lewis
"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one." C.S. Lewis
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 27, 2020
What to call this work of sui generis? It is at once a collection of beautiful stories and rhyming poems, a book of activities, a gorgeous art book, and a biographical encyclopedia of strange and fascinating real people.
Not only is The Fairy Gothmother: A Collection of Cautionary Tales all of these things at once, it is also seamless in its presentation of odd literary and visually artistic delights. It's 100+ pages will leave you wishing there was at least double that number. At the beginning of the book--which is introduced by the Fairy Gothmother herself--we are invited with a wink and a coy smirk to enter her world of of smoke and mirrors, of dark, cobblestone alleyways, graveyards, and the restless bones and spirits that stir within. Within them, within her. Within us.
And this Fairy Gothmother...who is she? Dare we even ask? With one hand, she weaves an elaborate spell, with another, she opens her book of delightful horrors like the creaking front door of a haunted house. Unlike Aesop or the Brothers Grimm, she is not merely the collector of legends, fairy and folktales, she is their spinner. And like the graceful, translucent threads of spider's silk, her fabric is seamless, flawless, and strong enough to catch and cling to any who dare come closer, be they adult, child, or something in between.
The Fairy Gothmother is not good or evil, but a guardian of the forgotten and an avenger of misdeeds. She especially abhors bullies and the high horses of the haughty, as you will see by those who get their comeuppance in these cautionary tales.
Not only that, but she is also...an educator? That's right. Her benefactor (creator) one Ms. Jennifer Preston has a gift for weaving her own webs that connect art, science, and honoring the contributors to both. One of the unexpected thrills of this book is her deftly articulated biographies of the lost and forgotten artists whose illustrations are found sprinkled like pixie dust throughout this collection. It is a rare talent indeed that can express complex concepts like impressionism, and define them for children in ways that are both understandable and engaging.
The stories here have all the hallmarks of fairytales of old, and the poems boldly close the door on time itself and retreat to a domain of primordial shadows where epics and archetypes are cast. Her style hearkens to the wry, acerbic wit of Edward Gorey, the descriptive atmosphere of Edgar Allen Poe, and the cadence of Dr. Seuss. More than educational, more than cautionary, more than descriptive, this book is FUN in the way that it peers beneath the veil of dowdy, stoic Victorian recitations of nightmares and celebrates the intelligence, sense of play and wonder shared by the child in all of us.
Speaking of fun, The Fairy Gothmother includes numerous avenues for interaction between parents (or older siblings) and kids. The stories and especially the poems are crafted with precision and attention to every syllable. They beg to be read aloud. The illustrator biographies provide opportunities for adults and children to deepen their appreciation of art history, and the original activities included here offer an added third dimension of play, creation, and togetherness.
One can imagine the Fairy Gothmother herself, standing off to the side as parents and kids chase away the doldrums by playing The Halloween Hunt, pleased with her legerdemain, stepping away into the mists from whence she came, the smile at the corner of her lips saying that her work here is done, but the wink of her eye letting any who dared look know that more is to come, and one day she shall return...when the time is right. In the meantime, let her words echo through the halls of your castle, or midst the shadows cast by the fire light from your hearth. Come closer...if you dare...
Not only is The Fairy Gothmother: A Collection of Cautionary Tales all of these things at once, it is also seamless in its presentation of odd literary and visually artistic delights. It's 100+ pages will leave you wishing there was at least double that number. At the beginning of the book--which is introduced by the Fairy Gothmother herself--we are invited with a wink and a coy smirk to enter her world of of smoke and mirrors, of dark, cobblestone alleyways, graveyards, and the restless bones and spirits that stir within. Within them, within her. Within us.
And this Fairy Gothmother...who is she? Dare we even ask? With one hand, she weaves an elaborate spell, with another, she opens her book of delightful horrors like the creaking front door of a haunted house. Unlike Aesop or the Brothers Grimm, she is not merely the collector of legends, fairy and folktales, she is their spinner. And like the graceful, translucent threads of spider's silk, her fabric is seamless, flawless, and strong enough to catch and cling to any who dare come closer, be they adult, child, or something in between.
The Fairy Gothmother is not good or evil, but a guardian of the forgotten and an avenger of misdeeds. She especially abhors bullies and the high horses of the haughty, as you will see by those who get their comeuppance in these cautionary tales.
Not only that, but she is also...an educator? That's right. Her benefactor (creator) one Ms. Jennifer Preston has a gift for weaving her own webs that connect art, science, and honoring the contributors to both. One of the unexpected thrills of this book is her deftly articulated biographies of the lost and forgotten artists whose illustrations are found sprinkled like pixie dust throughout this collection. It is a rare talent indeed that can express complex concepts like impressionism, and define them for children in ways that are both understandable and engaging.
The stories here have all the hallmarks of fairytales of old, and the poems boldly close the door on time itself and retreat to a domain of primordial shadows where epics and archetypes are cast. Her style hearkens to the wry, acerbic wit of Edward Gorey, the descriptive atmosphere of Edgar Allen Poe, and the cadence of Dr. Seuss. More than educational, more than cautionary, more than descriptive, this book is FUN in the way that it peers beneath the veil of dowdy, stoic Victorian recitations of nightmares and celebrates the intelligence, sense of play and wonder shared by the child in all of us.
Speaking of fun, The Fairy Gothmother includes numerous avenues for interaction between parents (or older siblings) and kids. The stories and especially the poems are crafted with precision and attention to every syllable. They beg to be read aloud. The illustrator biographies provide opportunities for adults and children to deepen their appreciation of art history, and the original activities included here offer an added third dimension of play, creation, and togetherness.
One can imagine the Fairy Gothmother herself, standing off to the side as parents and kids chase away the doldrums by playing The Halloween Hunt, pleased with her legerdemain, stepping away into the mists from whence she came, the smile at the corner of her lips saying that her work here is done, but the wink of her eye letting any who dared look know that more is to come, and one day she shall return...when the time is right. In the meantime, let her words echo through the halls of your castle, or midst the shadows cast by the fire light from your hearth. Come closer...if you dare...
January 27, 2020
What to call this work of sui generis? It is at once a collection of beautiful stories and rhyming poems, a book of activities, a gorgeous art book, and a biographical encyclopedia of strange and fascinating real people.
Not only is The Fairy Gothmother: A Collection of Cautionary Tales all of these things at once, it is also seamless in its presentation of odd literary and visually artistic delights. It's 100+ pages will leave you wishing there was at least double that number. At the beginning of the book--which is introduced by the Fairy Gothmother herself--we are invited with a wink and a coy smirk to enter her world of of smoke and mirrors, of dark, cobblestone alleyways, graveyards, and the restless bones and spirits that stir within. Within them, within her. Within us.
And this Fairy Gothmother...who is she? Dare we even ask? With one hand, she weaves an elaborate spell, with another, she opens her book of delightful horrors like the creaking front door of a haunted house. Unlike Aesop or the Brothers Grimm, she is not merely the collector of legends, fairy and folktales, she is their spinner. And like the graceful, translucent threads of spider's silk, her fabric is seamless, flawless, and strong enough to catch and cling to any who dare come closer, be they adult, child, or something in between.
The Fairy Gothmother is not good or evil, but a guardian of the forgotten and an avenger of misdeeds. She especially abhors bullies and the high horses of the haughty, as you will see by those who get their comeuppance in these cautionary tales.
Not only that, but she is also...an educator? That's right. Her benefactor (creator) one Ms. Jennifer Preston has a gift for weaving her own webs that connect art, science, and honoring the contributors to both. One of the unexpected thrills of this book is her deftly articulated biographies of the lost and forgotten artists whose illustrations are found sprinkled like pixie dust throughout this collection. It is a rare talent indeed that can express complex concepts like impressionism, and define them for children in ways that are both understandable and engaging.
The stories here have all the hallmarks of fairytales of old, and the poems boldly close the door on time itself and retreat to a domain of primordial shadows where epics and archetypes are cast. Her style hearkens to the wry, acerbic wit of Edward Gorey, the descriptive atmosphere of Edgar Allen Poe, and the cadence of Dr. Seuss. More than educational, more than cautionary, more than descriptive, this book is FUN in the way that it peers beneath the veil of dowdy, stoic Victorian recitations of nightmares and celebrates the intelligence, sense of play and wonder shared by the child in all of us.
Speaking of fun, The Fairy Gothmother includes numerous avenues for interaction between parents (or older siblings) and kids. The stories and especially the poems are crafted with precision and attention to every syllable. They beg to be read aloud. The illustrator biographies provide opportunities for adults and children to deepen their appreciation of art history, and the original activities included here offer an added third dimension of play, creation, and togetherness.
One can imagine the Fairy Gothmother herself, standing off to the side as parents and kids chase away the doldrums by playing The Halloween Hunt, pleased with her legerdemain, stepping away into the mists from whence she came, the smile at the corner of her lips saying that her work here is done, but the wink of her eye letting any who dared look know that more is to come, and one day she shall return...when the time is right. In the meantime, let her words echo through the halls of your castle, or midst the shadows cast by the fire light from your hearth. Come closer...if you dare...
Not only is The Fairy Gothmother: A Collection of Cautionary Tales all of these things at once, it is also seamless in its presentation of odd literary and visually artistic delights. It's 100+ pages will leave you wishing there was at least double that number. At the beginning of the book--which is introduced by the Fairy Gothmother herself--we are invited with a wink and a coy smirk to enter her world of of smoke and mirrors, of dark, cobblestone alleyways, graveyards, and the restless bones and spirits that stir within. Within them, within her. Within us.
And this Fairy Gothmother...who is she? Dare we even ask? With one hand, she weaves an elaborate spell, with another, she opens her book of delightful horrors like the creaking front door of a haunted house. Unlike Aesop or the Brothers Grimm, she is not merely the collector of legends, fairy and folktales, she is their spinner. And like the graceful, translucent threads of spider's silk, her fabric is seamless, flawless, and strong enough to catch and cling to any who dare come closer, be they adult, child, or something in between.
The Fairy Gothmother is not good or evil, but a guardian of the forgotten and an avenger of misdeeds. She especially abhors bullies and the high horses of the haughty, as you will see by those who get their comeuppance in these cautionary tales.
Not only that, but she is also...an educator? That's right. Her benefactor (creator) one Ms. Jennifer Preston has a gift for weaving her own webs that connect art, science, and honoring the contributors to both. One of the unexpected thrills of this book is her deftly articulated biographies of the lost and forgotten artists whose illustrations are found sprinkled like pixie dust throughout this collection. It is a rare talent indeed that can express complex concepts like impressionism, and define them for children in ways that are both understandable and engaging.
The stories here have all the hallmarks of fairytales of old, and the poems boldly close the door on time itself and retreat to a domain of primordial shadows where epics and archetypes are cast. Her style hearkens to the wry, acerbic wit of Edward Gorey, the descriptive atmosphere of Edgar Allen Poe, and the cadence of Dr. Seuss. More than educational, more than cautionary, more than descriptive, this book is FUN in the way that it peers beneath the veil of dowdy, stoic Victorian recitations of nightmares and celebrates the intelligence, sense of play and wonder shared by the child in all of us.
Speaking of fun, The Fairy Gothmother includes numerous avenues for interaction between parents (or older siblings) and kids. The stories and especially the poems are crafted with precision and attention to every syllable. They beg to be read aloud. The illustrator biographies provide opportunities for adults and children to deepen their appreciation of art history, and the original activities included here offer an added third dimension of play, creation, and togetherness.
One can imagine the Fairy Gothmother herself, standing off to the side as parents and kids chase away the doldrums by playing The Halloween Hunt, pleased with her legerdemain, stepping away into the mists from whence she came, the smile at the corner of her lips saying that her work here is done, but the wink of her eye letting any who dared look know that more is to come, and one day she shall return...when the time is right. In the meantime, let her words echo through the halls of your castle, or midst the shadows cast by the fire light from your hearth. Come closer...if you dare...
January 27, 2020
What to call this work of sui generis? It is at once a collection of beautiful stories and rhyming poems, a book of activities, a gorgeous art book, and a biographical encyclopedia of strange and fascinating real people.
Not only is The Fairy Gothmother: A Collection of Cautionary Tales all of these things at once, it is also seamless in its presentation of odd literary and visually artistic delights. It's 100+ pages will leave you wishing there was at least double that number. At the beginning of the book--which is introduced by the Fairy Gothmother herself--we are invited with a wink and a coy smirk to enter her world of of smoke and mirrors, of dark, cobblestone alleyways, graveyards, and the restless bones and spirits that stir within. Within them, within her. Within us.
And this Fairy Gothmother...who is she? Dare we even ask? With one hand, she weaves an elaborate spell, with another, she opens her book of delightful horrors like the creaking front door of a haunted house. Unlike Aesop or the Brothers Grimm, she is not merely the collector of legends, fairy and folktales, she is their spinner. And like the graceful, translucent threads of spider's silk, her fabric is seamless, flawless, and strong enough to catch and cling to any who dare come closer, be they adult, child, or something in between.
The Fairy Gothmother is not good or evil, but a guardian of the forgotten and an avenger of misdeeds. She especially abhors bullies and the high horses of the haughty, as you will see by those who get their comeuppance in these cautionary tales.
Not only that, but she is also...an educator? That's right. Her benefactor (creator) one Ms. Jennifer Preston has a gift for weaving her own webs that connect art, science, and honoring the contributors to both. One of the unexpected thrills of this book is her deftly articulated biographies of the lost and forgotten artists whose illustrations are found sprinkled like pixie dust throughout this collection. It is a rare talent indeed that can express complex concepts like impressionism, and define them for children in ways that are both understandable and engaging.
The stories here have all the hallmarks of fairytales of old, and the poems boldly close the door on time itself and retreat to a domain of primordial shadows where epics and archetypes are cast. Her style hearkens to the wry, acerbic wit of Edward Gorey, the descriptive atmosphere of Edgar Allen Poe, and the cadence of Dr. Seuss. More than educational, more than cautionary, more than descriptive, this book is FUN in the way that it peers beneath the veil of dowdy, stoic Victorian recitations of nightmares and celebrates the intelligence, sense of play and wonder shared by the child in all of us.
Speaking of fun, The Fairy Gothmother includes numerous avenues for interaction between parents (or older siblings) and kids. The stories and especially the poems are crafted with precision and attention to every syllable. They beg to be read aloud. The illustrator biographies provide opportunities for adults and children to deepen their appreciation of art history, and the original activities included here offer an added third dimension of play, creation, and togetherness.
One can imagine the Fairy Gothmother herself, standing off to the side as parents and kids chase away the doldrums by playing The Halloween Hunt, pleased with her legerdemain, stepping away into the mists from whence she came, the smile at the corner of her lips saying that her work here is done, but the wink of her eye letting any who dared look know that more is to come, and one day she shall return...when the time is right. In the meantime, let her words echo through the halls of your castle, or midst the shadows cast by the fire light from your hearth. Come closer...if you dare...
Not only is The Fairy Gothmother: A Collection of Cautionary Tales all of these things at once, it is also seamless in its presentation of odd literary and visually artistic delights. It's 100+ pages will leave you wishing there was at least double that number. At the beginning of the book--which is introduced by the Fairy Gothmother herself--we are invited with a wink and a coy smirk to enter her world of of smoke and mirrors, of dark, cobblestone alleyways, graveyards, and the restless bones and spirits that stir within. Within them, within her. Within us.
And this Fairy Gothmother...who is she? Dare we even ask? With one hand, she weaves an elaborate spell, with another, she opens her book of delightful horrors like the creaking front door of a haunted house. Unlike Aesop or the Brothers Grimm, she is not merely the collector of legends, fairy and folktales, she is their spinner. And like the graceful, translucent threads of spider's silk, her fabric is seamless, flawless, and strong enough to catch and cling to any who dare come closer, be they adult, child, or something in between.
The Fairy Gothmother is not good or evil, but a guardian of the forgotten and an avenger of misdeeds. She especially abhors bullies and the high horses of the haughty, as you will see by those who get their comeuppance in these cautionary tales.
Not only that, but she is also...an educator? That's right. Her benefactor (creator) one Ms. Jennifer Preston has a gift for weaving her own webs that connect art, science, and honoring the contributors to both. One of the unexpected thrills of this book is her deftly articulated biographies of the lost and forgotten artists whose illustrations are found sprinkled like pixie dust throughout this collection. It is a rare talent indeed that can express complex concepts like impressionism, and define them for children in ways that are both understandable and engaging.
The stories here have all the hallmarks of fairytales of old, and the poems boldly close the door on time itself and retreat to a domain of primordial shadows where epics and archetypes are cast. Her style hearkens to the wry, acerbic wit of Edward Gorey, the descriptive atmosphere of Edgar Allen Poe, and the cadence of Dr. Seuss. More than educational, more than cautionary, more than descriptive, this book is FUN in the way that it peers beneath the veil of dowdy, stoic Victorian recitations of nightmares and celebrates the intelligence, sense of play and wonder shared by the child in all of us.
Speaking of fun, The Fairy Gothmother includes numerous avenues for interaction between parents (or older siblings) and kids. The stories and especially the poems are crafted with precision and attention to every syllable. They beg to be read aloud. The illustrator biographies provide opportunities for adults and children to deepen their appreciation of art history, and the original activities included here offer an added third dimension of play, creation, and togetherness.
One can imagine the Fairy Gothmother herself, standing off to the side as parents and kids chase away the doldrums by playing The Halloween Hunt, pleased with her legerdemain, stepping away into the mists from whence she came, the smile at the corner of her lips saying that her work here is done, but the wink of her eye letting any who dared look know that more is to come, and one day she shall return...when the time is right. In the meantime, let her words echo through the halls of your castle, or midst the shadows cast by the fire light from your hearth. Come closer...if you dare...
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