Thursday, March 24, 2011

The 10 best bad fairies

The 13 Treasures, Michelle Harrison's first novel for children, won the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize and has been sold in the UK, USA and fourteen other countries.

Its sequel, The 13 Curses was published in January 2010, and was followed by a third book, The 13 Secrets, in February 2011.

For the Guardian, Harrison came up with a ten best list of bad fairies--fairies "that were deceitful, malicious – even deadly."

One title on the list:
Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti

Despite warnings from her sister, a young girl, Laura, falls victim to malicious goblin men peddling irresistible, enchanted fruit. In exchange for a lock of her hair and a tear drop, Laura eats the fruit and falls ill, nursed back only by Lizzie's sisterly love. Rossetti's cautionary poem can be read on several levels though there is ambiguity, even from the author, over whether it is intended for children. Many argue that the themes of temptation and forbidden fruit, and the nature of the descriptions would suggest not.
Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue