This book is on the Notable Books for Children List.
Exposition: Flory is a night fairy. One evening, while flying, a bat mistakenly tries to eat her. Her wings are ripped off and she falls into the garden of a giantess. She makes a home out of a birdhouse and upon waking in the morning, she decides she no longer wants to be a night fairy. She has decided to be a day fairy because she likes the bright colors of day and the birds. She now despises bats. Conflict: Flory has decided she no longer wants to be a night fairy because she is scared of bats.
Rising Action: Flory makes a deal with a squirrel. If the squirrel will let her ride him, she will help him get the food out of the bird feeder. Her and squirrel become friends and she names him Skuggle. One day, Flory sees a beautiful hummingbird and is captivated by its beauty. She wants to ride a hummingbird and make it her own. She goes to the hummingbird feeder and tries to talk to the hummingbirds, but they never pay her any attention. One morning Flory is awakened by a blue jay who is saying that a hummingbird is trapped in a spider's web. She decides to save the bird if the bird agrees to belong to her. The hummingbird refuses to belong to Flory because she must get back to her nest and warm her eggs. Flory tries to free her anyways, but is getting stuck in the web. The hummingbird tells Flory to leave her and keep her eggs warm. Flory casts a spell on the eggs and keeps them warm while she returns to the web to free the hummingbird. The spider is wrapping the hummingbird in silk and Flory stops the spider. Flory makes a deal with the spider to spare the life of the hummingbird. The hummingbird cannot fly away because it is in a state of torpor. Flory decides to stay with the hummingbird until morning. She once again discovers the beauty of night while staying awake keeping watch over the hummingbird.
Climax: A raccoon comes and tries to eat Flory. Her spells are not working very well on the raccoon because the raccoon is much bigger than she is.
Falling Action: A bat comes to her rescue. The bat scares scares away the raccoon and saves Flory.
Resolution: Flory is frightened of the bat, but the bat reassures her that he will not harm her. It is the same bat that mistakenly tried to eat her. The bat tells Flory that he's been looking for her everyday to apologize. He tells Flory that her wings are growing back. They become friends and Flory now thinks that she wants to be a day and a night fairy. When the hummingbird awakens, the hummingbird lets Flory ride her and takes her to the eggs. Inside the nest there are now two little baby hummingbirds.
Laura Amy Schlitz has created a whimsical book with her use of dialogue and vocabulary. The dialogue she uses for Flory shows that Flory is a determined, sometimes rude, and likable fairy. Laura Schlitz has written a beautiful book. She uses just the right vocabulary to create an almost poetic book.
No comments:
Post a Comment