Nonfiction Spotlight: The Fairy Ring: Or Elsie and Frances Fool the World (A True Story) by Mary Losure

Cover from Goodreads

Title: The Fairy Ring: Or Elsie and Frances Fool the World (A True Story)

Author: Mary Losure

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Copyright date: 2012

Target Audience: Middle Grade

Lexile Reading Level: 940L

Awards Received: Booklist Editors’ Choice, Best Children’s Non-fiction 2012, Horn Book Fanfare 2012, Betsy Bird’s 100 Magnificent Children’s Books of 2012, Society of Midland Authors Award 2013, Best Children’s Non-Fiction, A Junior Library Guild selection

Summary:

When Frances was nine, her father went to fight in the First World War and she and her mother went to stay with her Uncle Arthur, Aunt Polly, and cousin Elsie in the house in Cottingley, Yorkshire, England. It was in the beck behind the Cottingley home that Frances first spotted the little green men all dressed in green she called fairies. When the adults in her life began to tease Frances about the fairy sightings, Elsie stepped in with a brilliant plan. The girls would photograph the fairies and prove the adults wrong! Never has a hoax worked so brilliantly. The Fairy Ring tells the story of Frances moving to Cottingley, meeting the fairies, and altering photographs with cardboard cutouts painted by Elsie that were clever enough to even fool Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes!

"Frances with the Fairies" (Losure, 2012, p.37)

“An intriguing glimpse into a photo-doctoring scandal well before the advent of Photoshop.” - Publishers Weekly  

Critique of Contents & Organization:

This enchanting narrative nonfiction is told in limited third person. The events of the magical and mysterious Cottingley Fairy photographs unfold in chronological order, weaving aspects of the story directly from primary sources such as Frances’s own autobiography and the letters between Elsie’s mother and Mr. Gardner, the man who made Elsie and Frances famous. The whole narration has a very fairy tale-esque feel to it:

“One day when the air was very still, Frances was sitting in her willow tree when she noticed a leaf moving, all by itself. There was no breeze, yet the leaf seemed to be twirling anyway.  It was odd, but Frances didn’t give it much thought until another afternoon, when the same thing happened: one leaf began to twirl. All by itself. As she peered through the willow branches, Frances noticed a little man,” (Losure, 2012, p.19). 

There’s even a section about the end of the First World War, when Frances’s uncle refuses to let anyone go into town and enjoy the festivities (Losure, 2012, p.46), much in the same vein as an evil stepmother might.


The story is broken up into three parts (Frances’s Fairies, Elsie, Frances and Elsie) with several short chapters within each part. Each chapter is listed on the Table of Contents page.  There’s an Acknowledgements (p. 167) section, Source Notes (p. 169), Image Credits (p. 178), Bibliography (p. 179), and an Index (p. 181).


The writing style, organization and content really works well for this story. I loved the fact that there were so many photographs included through out the story. I only wish they had been in color like the ones you can find online—with that said, I also really appreciate that they’re photographs of the original photographs, which did not have color at the time.

Reasons to Include this Title in Your Library Collection:

In her Acknowledgments page Mary Losure states that “for a long time, I’ve been interested in true stories with children as their heroes” (p. 167).  I think its very important to encourage children to imagine themselves as the heroes and to explore the wonders and mysteries of this world that may or may not be real.


This book does a wonderful job of setting readers up for critical thinking. Much like an article from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Losure sets the facts before us but leaves the final verdict up to us, inspiring critical thinking in those who partake in her story. “It was true that Frances had lied about the first four photographs. But that didn’t mean the last one was a fake” (p.163) and “But surely, now, the audience can tell that what’s inside it is not a joke or a hoax. It’s a fairy story with big, strong, wings that can fly people’s imaginations to gorgeous and fairyland places” (p. 166).

Use & Extension Activities:

•           Have children take their own nature pictures—do they see anything that could resemble a fairy creature?
•           Have children research if there have been other fairy sightings outside of the ones mentioned in the book
•           Have older readers write a persuasive essay about whether fairies are real or imaginary using information they found in the book and outside sources.
•           Have children research modern day hoax pictures and discuss the idea of “Fake News”. 

Read Alikes:

Provided by Novelist Plus:

Title: Spooked! How a Radio Broadcast and the War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America

Author: Gail Jarrow

Audience: Middle Grade

Reasoning: This narrative nonfiction covers the radio reading of "War of the Worlds", an unintentional hoax in 1938 that had America panicking about a fictional Martian invasion. 

Title: Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials

Author: Marc Aronson

Audience: YA

Reasoning: This narrative nonfiction looks at the events surrounding the Salem Witch Trials. It is told in the same mysterious unfolding of events that allows readers to determine what was truth, half-truth, and outright lies.

Nonfiction Spotlight: Separate is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh

Title: Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation

Author & Illustrator:  Duncan Tonatiuh

Publisher: Abramas Books for Young Readers

Copyright date: 2014

Target Audience: Elementary Students

Lexile Reading Level: AD870L

Major Awards Received: Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal

Summary:

This illustrated narrative is about the family behind the Mendez v. Westminster School District court case in 1947 and their fight to desegregate their public school system. Sylvia and her siblings were told that they could not attend the normal public school in Westminster, California, but instead had to go to the “Mexican School”. Sylvia, her siblings, and their mother were native born American citizens, and while her father was from Mexico, he had been naturalized well before their move to Westminster. This did not matter to the school superintendent, the county superintendent, nor the school board. Sylvia’s father fought for his children to have the right to attend the public school, which received better funding, and had better teachers that actually cared about the students it served. He filed a lawsuit and won, not once, but twice.

Separate is Never Equal page 6

The book starts in medias res, starting with Sylvia’s first day of school after her family has fought for and won the right to attend the public school with the rest of the children in town. When Sylvia comes home and tells her parents that she doesn’t want to return because the other children are mean to her, they gently remind her of why she is where she is, and the importance of her being there, for herself and for any other child facing prejudice.  The book closes with Sylvia returning to school, ignoring the bullies, and learning to make friends with children of many different backgrounds.


The book contains distinct illustrations created by the author, Duncan Tonatiuh. According to his webpage, his artwork is inspired by the Mixtec codex, a type of Pre-Columbian art. Some of the more distinguishing features of his artwork include characters’ ear shape, the very simple, yet textured background images, and the use of only profile images for the characters in the story. An example is shown to the right.


Other features of the book include an Author’s Note (p. 36), a Glossary (p. 38), a Bibliography (p.39), a note About the Text (p. 39), and an Index (p. 39).

Critique of Contents & Organization:

The content and organization of this book is spot on for the information presented and the target audience. I really appreciate that Tonatiuh provides actual dialogue from the Mendez v. Westminster School District court case. This not only adds to the book’s accuracy, but it also provides a very eye-opening example of how people really think and feel about someone who is different from them. The ability we have as readers to see Sylvia’s thoughts during the trial in response to the questions is also powerful, as it teaches children that there are two sides to every story and the importance of asking questions instead of making assumptions when they meet someone new and different than themselves.

“Segregation tends to give an aura of inferiority. In order to have the people of the United States understand one another it is necessary for them to live together, and the public school is the one mechanism where all the children of all the people go” (Tonatiuh, 2014, p. 29).

The additional features at the end of the book also provide a lot of information that furthers readers’ knowledge on the topic. I appreciate the inclusion of a glossary and index. This way Tonatiuh is able increase readers’ vocabulary and tell the story without choosing less precise words.

The use of the illustrations are also very appropriate and powerful. For instance, the images depicting the two different schools very easily tells a young reader all they need to know about which school they would rather attend. (See the two illustrations below).

Reasons to Include this Title in Your Library Collection:

In his Author’s Note, Tonatiuh, makes a statement that includes many really important reasons why his book should be included in a library collection for youth:

“My hope is that this book will help children and young people learn about this important yet little known event in the American history. I also hope that they will see themselves reflected in Sylvia’s story and realize that their voices are valuable and that they too can make meaningful contributions to this country” (Tonatiuh, 2014, p.36). 

Before reading this book, I was not aware that there were court cases on segregation before Brown v. Board of Education. I haven’t come across a whole lot of books on this topic for this particular age group either—making it even more important to purchase for a public library collection!

I love that Tonatiuh wants to encourage children to make meaningful contributions to their country. This is a very important facet of being a United States citizen, one that gets overlooked far too often. With Segregation is Never Equal, teachers and parents can open a discussion about civic duty with their children and the importance of taking care of our country and the people that live here.

Lastly, Tonatiuh states that:

“the Mendez family went to court almost seventy years ago, but their fight is relevant today” (2014, p. 36). 

 As this is a pertinent topic that resonates with several of my community members and branches out as an important topic nation wide with our government’s current stance on immigration, this book deserves a space on my library shelf.  

Use & Extension Activities:

•           Discussions about segregation
•           Discussions about immigration
• Discussions about race and nationality
• Discussions about ways students/children can better their county