During World War I, two young cousins living together tell their parents that fairies can be found in their backyard. They beg and plead to use a camera to photograph the fairies as proof -- and their parents are confounded when they come back with two photographs showing the girls surrounded by fairies. The photographs soon find their way to the public and prestigious persons start believing fairies are real based on this evidence -- while skeptical others insist the photographs are faked.

This book provides a fascinating look at a slim slice of history that caught the attention of a nation repeatedly over the years. Nobleman writes clearly and succinctly about the incident, engaging readers with the story. Wheeler's illustrations are absolutely beautiful in their concurrent simplicity and detail. Likewise, the color palette is somehow both muted and bold. And, of course, no book about this story would be complete without including reproductions of the photographs themselves.

An author's note cautions readers not to assume that this the silliness of a simpler time and warns them to be vigilant in the era of the Internet as well, a brilliant point to make while bringing the ramifications of this story into the current day. ( )

From 1917 to 1920, two cousins in Cottingley, England photographed fairies in the family garden. With these photographs and the help of famed author Sir Author Conan Doyle and Edward Gardener, a lecturer on the supernatural, the two cousins were able to convince the public that fairies did exist. Although the cousins’ story and photographs appeared in a magazine article and provoked public debate about fairies, the fairy sightings were all part of a well-played hoax on their patents. The cousins kept the truth of the Cottingley fairies to themselves until 1983. ( )

Author Marc Tyler Nobleman and illustrator Eliza Wheeler tell the story of the Cottingley Fairies hoax in this engaging work of picture-book non-fiction. Angry at the adults in her family for scolding her younger cousin Frances, a sixteen-year-old English girl named Elsie Wright decided to play a trick on them, taking some pictures that she claimed proved the existence of fairies. The year was 1917, and photography was still new to many people. Eventually the cousins' trick grew beyond their fairy circle, convincing even the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that they had made a remarkable discovery. He used their photographs in his article on fairies, published in The Strand magazine, creating a widespread sensation. It would be many decades until the truth was revealed: the girls had faked the fairies, which were paper cut-outs propped up with sticks in each scene...

An absolutely lovely book, Fairy Spell: How Two Girls Convinced the World That Fairies Are Real pairs an engaging, informative text with beautiful illustrations. I knew the basic story of the Cottingley Fairies, but I thought Nobleman did an excellent job of expanding upon the better-known facts, and interpreting them in a convincing way. I appreciated his evident sympathy for the two young hoaxers, and the humane way he addressed their trickery. I also appreciated the inclusion of the actual photographs, although the real stand-out for me, visually speaking, was Eliza Wheeler's gorgeous illustrations, done in ink, watercolor and collage. Her color palette was immensely appealing, her human figures charming. I'd recommend this one to young fairy-lovers, and to anyone looking for engaging non-fiction picture-books about unusual and interesting children from the pages of history. ( )