Avery and the fairy circle
Avery, a sturdy little girl with thick, curly brown hair, is excited to explore the yard and the woods in her new house. Wishing for a friend, she follows a deer, trips and falls down a hill and lands in a circle of mushrooms… where she shrinks! She meets Birch, a fairy with orange hair and light skin and the two set off together, but is Birch really going to be a new friend? Avery wants to explore this new world and be friends. However, Birch doesn’t seem very friendly, even when Avery offers to help, and she certainly doesn’t care that Avery is getting left behind because she can’t fly! The two will have to learn to work together if they want to be friends – and get back to the fairy village in time for the festival.
Kingsbury’s pastel illustrations lean heavily towards pink and purple, but not in an overwhelming way. Her art style is rich with rounded edges, little fairy details, and diverse hair, skin, and body types among the fairies. As the two children squabble, they travel through the woods, meeting the large deer that Avery originally followed, now drawn in close-up detail, a dark blue jay, and trees that tower over the tiny figures. When they arrive at the fairy village, there’s plenty of nature-themed architecture to enjoy, along with the neat little outfits of Birch’s moms and the other fairies in the village. The story concludes with some pages from Avery’s journal, including drawings of the different plants they collected and their descriptions, all with Kingsbury’s cute, rounded edges and warm colors. Kingsbury’s art reminded me of Rose Nadia Whittaker’s work in Adventures with Friends, a collection of RPG one-shots that we use with our D&D games with elementary-age kids and this simple story would make a delightful D&D adventure for young children just starting to play.
The text is in a very readable font and the text is generally simple, although there are some more complex vocabulary words in the description of plants. Most of the nuance of the story is conveyed through the protagonists’ expressions and body language and while the length of the book will appeal to younger readers, they will need to be a fairly fluent reader, both of text and art, to pick up all the details. This will make it double as an excellent read-aloud to a younger audience who isn’t fluent yet as well as hold the interest of older readers who might otherwise be beyond the simplicity of art and text.
It’s very common for younger children to express interest in chapter books with brightly colored, sparkling covers, only to be disappointed by the text and limited black and white illustrations within, so this is sure to fly off shelves both for independent readers and listeners. The interactions between the two girls model inclusive communication and readers will enjoy learning about the different herbs and plants and look forward to the next book set during Avery’s planned reunion with Birch in the autumn.
Avery and the Fairy Circle Â
By Rowan Kingsbury
Flying Eye Books, 2025
ISBN: 9781838749316
Company Age Rating: 5-9 years
NFNT Age Recommendation: Easy Readers (5-9), Middle Grade (7-11)
