Wednesday 15 April 2009

My Thoughts: Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Letters by Brian Froud and Ari Beck



This is the third book in the Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Collection that I have read. I love this collection so much, these are books whose pages you just have to run your fingers over as you read.
The collection is based around the character Lady Cottington, as a child she was suddenly surrounded by fairies one morning whilst out drawing. When the fairy landed on her page she slammed the book shut - fairy sqashed inside. As she grows older the fairies give her more and more grief. These fairies don't fit into the Disney-esqe cutesy type, they are often naked, poking their tongues or bottoms out.
('Shakespeares' reply)
This new book, which I saw on Saturday and couldn't resist is a collection of 'replies' that the character got when she sent out letters asking about peoples' experiences with fairies. The replies are from famous characters such as Queen Elizabeth, Lewis Carrol and William Shakespeare. Many of the letters fold out from the page, some are even tucked away into little envelopes, (I carefully peeled open evenlopes not wanting to damage them).
(a letter and photograph from the 'Queen')
Surrounding the letters are the fairies who got squashed in the pages and some of Lady Cottington's notes.
I've posted photos of some of my favourite pages - sorry about the sideways one, I didn't think of that when I took it!

Click on the pics to make them bigger.

9 comments:

DesLily said...

what a great book! I am jealous!!

serendipity_viv said...

What a fabulous book. The title alone is just wonderful. I shall definitely look out for this one.

katrina said...

Scrap Girl, its in TK Max for £6 at the mo

Ana S. said...

These sound so lovely. I always covet them at bookstores. One of these days I'll actually get them.

Eva said...

I think these books are so adorable! When my niece gets old enough to appreciate them (she's only 3 now), she'll definitely be getting them for her birthday. :D

katrina said...

Eva, the first one won't be suitable for a child - maybe a teenager

Anonymous said...

I have a copy of the first one but this looks amazing. I really must get the rest. I love books that are a bit different and that look like your edition was handmadejust for you.

Unknown said...

That is just cool! I love the whole premise of "pressing a fairy" and your description of the fairy squashed between the pages was so much fun. I can imagine the fairy chaos that could ensue. Sounds like a delightful, fun read.

lichtfus said...

Wonderful, i love the work of Brian Froud!

You are welcome in my page art.

See you later.

Jean-Denis Lichtfus artist from belgium.