Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book

What started out as what I assume to be a bit of comic relief, Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book, and its subsequent volumes, turned into something of its own fairy tale. Through each volume, we gain a little more insight into the world of Angelica Cottington, who masters the art of pressing fairies in her books, to preserve them and show the world the truth. I give each book 4 stars, but really, the second book is what brings the three volumes together as something more than whimsy.

The first volume, Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book, I'm quite sure was meant nothing more than a bit of humor. We follow the adventures of Lady Cottington as a small girl as she begins to notice the fairies around her and as she discovers the pressing show more technique to preserve them in her books. In Lady Cottington's Fairy Album we learn a little more of Lady Cottington's heritage, and this is where I think the series, while still deep in it's whimsical foundations, takes a turn for the more "serious." With Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Letters, we are presented with letters from the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rasputin, Houdini, Helen Keller and more, as Lady Cottington continues her journey of discovery.

The artwork throughout remains consistently humorous, with each fairy pressing more ridiculous than the last. A truly unique reading experience. show less

In addition to the original text, the new 10 3/4 Anniversary Edition comes with new cover art, a new foreword, 8 additional pages of story, a DVD mockumentary about Lady Cottington and her unique ability to trap fairies in her scrapbook and a new pressed fairy window cling (which I admit to having the first one in my car now - I have it on the corner of my windshield, so that it doesn't look so much as a pressed fairy as a fairy that has been smashed on my windshield whilst driving down the road). It's a very witty and clever book, and the drawings of the pressed fairies are hysterical.

Received this as a birthday gift back in 1994, still holds a place in my library, still contains the pressed fairies that came with the book. Dark British humor at its best.

Hysterical and beautifully illustrated - if you discount a slight "ick" factor! A young British girl manages to catch fairies between the pages of her pressed flower book and squish them for posterity. The diary entries are slightly risque in places when the enchanted folk make her do some things she thinks she doesn't want to do, but funny, funny, funny.

I won't claim this is a great, wonderful, life changing book, but it was certainly a lot of fun. Sometimes that's all I want. The illustrations are lovely and fascinating. I can pull it out at any random time and fall right back into it.

Fairies are tricky like that.

A friend passed this book along to me recently and, at first, I was charmed by the binding and the pages reproducing the childish handwriting and the (ick) squashed fairies captured in the pages. Still, novelty doesn't hold for long and while the writer introduces new levels of adult content into the material as the diarist grows older, I began to lose interest after a few pages. Definitely not for children, and worth a look. . . but a quick look.

I fell instantly in love with this book. It's beautifully illustrated with a cute and whimsical story based on the Cottingley Fairies. If you know nothing about the Cottingley Fairies I suggest you look it up to find out. In this story a little girl named Angelica Cottington has the ability to see fairies, and loves nothing more then to spend her days, squashing them between the pages of her books. It's a wonderful book for anyone in love with fairies or fairy art, and would make a wonderful gift or special treat for yourself.