The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz is the story of a young night fairy named Flory who lost her wings and managed to live in among animals of the woods without the confidence of being able to simply fly away to safety. Flory has to befriend a squirrel named Skuggle in order to get food and to stay safe from the dangerous creatures and the giantess that roams this part of her world. Flory hatches a plan to ride on the back of a hummingbird in order to gain some of the freedom she had when she could fly, if she could only get the attention of the bird and convince it to do something it really does not want to do.
The Night Fairy is a modern day fairy tale that tells of the struggles of Flory and her attempts to convince animals in her surroundings to help her or at least not to eat her. Flory undergoes many emotional moments as she makes some hard decisions about her predicament and the path she should follow. The Night Fairy is beautifully, but sparsely illustrated by Angela Barrett and the story is clearly enhanced by the visual clues she adds to the story.
Schlitz, Laura Amy and Angela Barrett (illustrator) (2010). The Night Fairy. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
