Fairies Afield

Mary Louisa MolesworthProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 288K words
Chapters: 29

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Fairies Afield by Mrs. MolesworthAuthor: Molesworth, Mrs., 1839-1921,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Mar 16, 2012

Editor's review

Fairies Afield is a collection of children's fantasy stories by Mrs. Molesworth, belonging to the kind of gentle, morally warm fairy tale she excelled at. The fairies here are not always dazzling magical figures; more often they embody order and goodwill, stepping into ordinary children's everyday situations and testing their honesty, patience and consideration. The language is plain and the plots are clear, making the book suitable for reading aloud and for young readers just beginning longer English texts. As a public-domain Project Gutenberg text, it has no modern notes or illustration captions, so readers must adjust to nineteenth-century sentence patterns and vocabulary. It works better as bedtime or parent-child reading than as a fantasy novel of thrills and adventure; readers interested in the history of children's literature and Victorian fairy tales will also see the typical tastes and values of children's books of that era.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Parents looking for public-domain English fairy tales for parent-child reading
Young readers just starting with original English children's literature
Readers studying Victorian children's books and the fairy-tale tradition
Readers who like gentle fantasy and do not need intense plots

Not a good fit for

Readers who need a Chinese translation or a bilingual edition
Readers who prefer modern fast-paced fantasy and adventure
Young children who need many illustrations to follow the story
Learners who want systematic notes and vocabulary explanations

Reading tips

Good for bedtime or parent-child reading: one story at a time, with a brief chat afterwards about the protagonist's choices.
Young readers can first get the gist without looking up every word, to preserve the overall pleasure of the story.
When you meet nineteenth-century wording and sentence patterns that differ from modern usage, take brief notes and review them after finishing the whole piece.
Parents can skim ahead and pick out words the child may not know, explaining them as they read together.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What age of child is this book suitable for?

This is an original English fairy tale with a nineteenth-century style, and its vocabulary and sentence patterns are somewhat difficult for young children. It suits young readers who already have basic English reading ability, or parent-child reading in which an adult reads aloud and explains as they go.

How are the fairy stories here different from modern fantasy novels?

The fairies here mainly guide and test the children; the stories focus on the children's character and choices rather than an expansive magical world and continuous adventure. The plots are relatively simple and the tone gentle, with the didactic flavour common in children's books of the period.

Will the lack of illustrations make it harder for a child to understand?

Public-domain e-texts usually do not include the original illustrations, so readers must imagine the scenes from the words. Parents can describe the scenes more fully when reading together, or have the child retell the story, to help build a sense of the setting; this does not affect the completeness of the stories themselves.

Can it be used as English-learning material?

It can be used as extensive reading, but it is not recommended as a beginner's textbook. Its sentence patterns and vocabulary are dated and it has no modern notes. Readers with some English foundation can use it to build stamina for longer reading, skipping difficult sentences to keep the reading flowing.

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About the author

Mary Louisa Molesworth Author · British · 1839–1921

Mrs. Molesworth (1839–1921), born Mary Louisa Molesworth, was an English writer of children's literature in the Victorian era. She was born in Rotterdam in 1839 and died in London in 1921, and was a prolific author; this site holds 57 of her works. Her representative books include The Cuckoo Clock, The Tapestry Room: A Child's Romance, Four Ghost Stories, The Carved Lions, Grandmother Dear: A Book for Boys and Girls, Christmas-Tree Land, and The Palace in the Garden. Her works are often classed as inspirational coming-of-age stories, usually centering on children and unfolding in settings where domestic life and fantasy intertwine. Her warm, delicate style combines imagination with a sense of everyday reality, and she has been called "the Jane Austen of the nursery." Public information is limited, but the sheer number of her works shows her lasting influence on child readers of her time.