Good Night, Fairies

by Kathleen Hague, Michael Hague (Illustrator)

"Of all the world's creatures, there is nothing so like a fairy as a child," a mother whispers in this gentle and reassuring bedtime story. At her child's bedside, she tenderly reveals all of the delightful secrets about how fairies live, work, and play. They teach birds to sing and draw rainbows to brighten rainy days,...they make spring flowers bloom and scatter autumn leaves,...and when little animals are sleepy, the fairies read bedtime stories to them. Bursting with luscious images filled with over 300 fairies, here is the perfect good-night treat by a best-selling author-illustrator team. A special fairy with a red cap hidden on every spread is just one of the many wondrous things that can be discovered within!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Fairies, Juvenile, Kids

40 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is time for bed, and listening to his mother's account of what fairies do, how they live and what their many loving duties are (both celestial and earthbound, from hanging the stars in the sky to preparing nature for springtime), the child happily enters dreamland. Considering the expressive, richly hued, minute details of Michael Hague's illustrations (which present an entire microcosm of magical creatures, of fairies, unicorns, mermaids, of indeed nature personified), there seems to be somewhat of a major disconnect between text and image. Kathleen Hague's narrative is sweet and evocative to a point, but her words do read rather like a simplistically mundane shopping list of fairy duties, with not really much description, and no poetry and lyricism whatsoever (an adequate, but ultimately majorly colourless and pale reflection of the shining, and yes, brilliant accompanying illustrations). Not a terrible or in any way an inappropriate offering, but also just not much enjoyable to me and for me on a potential reading pleasure level, and as such, I can and will only consider a high two star rating for Good Night, Fairies, as the narrative simly does not do justice to the expressively detailed, rich illustrations.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ridiculously saccharine and nonsensical. Why wouldn't the mermaids comb their own hair? Why doesn't the unicorn's mother teach it to fly? Oh, wait, since when do unicorns fly? Sorry, I'm just too cynical to enjoy this. The pix are pretty, but don't feel real to me... the fairies could be mindless constructs, like golems. I guess it's supposed to be a sort of a dream, w/ no plot, no life or heart. But that's not enough for me.

I did consider giving it two stars, as it's not horrible, but I just can't quite bear to do so.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mother tells her child a bedtime story of what the fairies do. The illustrations are rich and detailed...but it was odd, I would find myself drawn to some illustrations and thinking, "wow, that's beautiful" and then a page or two later, I would find the illustration completely unappealing. I don't know quite how to describe my reaction. I liked the depictions of flowers and some of the animals but found the birds and fairies and some of the others almost creepy. Although creepy isn't quite the right word. Anyway, I didn't hate this but it is definitely not a favorite.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations, created with pen and ink, watercolor, and colored pencils, are the highlight of this magical bedtime story about fairies. The conversational narrative is short and the pictures really tell the story.

The illustrations include a red-capped fairy hidden on every page, which will delight young children who enjoy multiple rereadings of the story. The story is written as much for parents as it is for children.

This story was selected as one of the books for the June 2016 - Fairies reads at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[Mistiemae1 Downs · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel a bit badly about giving this book two stars since the illustrations were GORGEOUS, but the text was rather simplistic. I felt like this theme of the fairies painting the insects and making butterflies beautiful, etc., has been done before. If this is the first fairy book you've ever picked up for your child then you may like it better, otherwise you'll probably be disappointed.

As I said, we all enjoyed the illustrations and loved the challenge of finding all of the more than 300 fairies throughout the book. There's also one red capped fairy on each page, which is a fun little treasure hunt for the children.

I wish this book had a bit more meat to it.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, with the sweet text and the detailed illustrations, although I do not think Hague does human faces as well as other artists. But he paints great animals. Some children will enjoy poring over the pictures and looking at the details, other children will not. The final page even challenges children to find all 321 winged fairies in the pictures. Some will rise to the challenge, others won't. The sweet, uncomplicated text should good for lulling young children to sleep.

[SamZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet bedtime story about all the different things fairies do. The illustrations are pretty, but too stylized for my taste. Overall, fun, but nothing special to me.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super detailed illustrations appropriately reminiscent of old fairy tale books.

I did not love the font choice here. It was hard to read and distracted from the illustrations.

The story was fine, BUT!! Tell me this wasn’t the basis for the Disney Tinkerbell series. I won’t believe you. It is so close to that first movie.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

With beautiful, highly-detailed realistic illustrations filling the pages and hundreds of colorful, flowing-robed fairies to spot, this is a bedtime story to be poured over. It is sure to inspire fantastical dreams of angelically-natured fairies.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art is super old-school but so detailed and whimsical. I love all the historical costumes the fairies wear, and the visual feast on each page. The text is just a mother's voice as she is putting a child to sleep and telling them about fairies. Definitely got my imagination stirring!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful and beautiful illustrations. The font is fancy, but not too fancy that it's hard to read. The story is basically a mother telling a child who's going to sleep about some things that she knows about fairies.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations are pretty but occasionally unnerving, the font is difficult to read, and there's no story here, just an increasingly fanciful and plot-hole-filled declaration of all the different things fairies do.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

sweet book. gorgeous, lush illustrations. the details are fun.

[Bonnie Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the illustrations!!

[Simply LauraLee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet bedtime story. What better way to send a child off to sleep than thoughts of fairies? The artwork has an old world feel and probably won't appeal to everyone, but I liked it.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the stars for the illustrations!

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations of fairies.

[Shay Vande · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the vintage art and the way the child in the story models good manners for the children this is read to.

[Anxious Bibliophile Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Hague's illustrations are always so beautiful.

[September · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love fairies. And magic

[Allison Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 3 year old daughter and I just loved the illustrations in this book. They are so beautiful! The story was cute but the illustrations are great.

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

the artwork is awful and terrifying. The story's font however makes me feel like I should read it with a british accent

[Brea Duymich · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the illustrations

[Kelly Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

so. many. fairies. beautiful book.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like the "I Spy" series, but with a Tarot-like feel and the sunbaby for Teletubbies, you'll love this!

[Skye Kilaen]

My son was enraptured by this book when he was little. I remember overhearing his grandma reading it to him sooo many times. It’s very sweet and there’s a lot to look at in all the illustrations.

[MoonbeamsNStarlight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful art. Not much of a story but pure whimsy. Sometimes that's all you need.

[Paisley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kathleen and Michael Hague wrote and illustrated a gorgeous book. The images in Good Night, Fairies bring alive the whimsy of the text as Mother tells the child about the duties and deeds of fairies. Magic is in the air as Mother explains, “Of all the world’s creatures, there is nothing so like a fairy as a child.”

To see what I mean, check out my video:
Storytime Sweetie presents Good Night Fairies

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter loves nature and the idea that the fairies come out at night to take care of the natural world, so this book was a perfect fit for her - plus, the illustrations are incredible, so magical.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading through the H's. I have to remember this one for kids that ask about fairies. I like it, the illustrations seem like they are trying too hard, but I would feel comfortable offering this as an alternative to Disney fairies.