Stella, Fairy of the Forest (Stella and Sam)

Stella has as much moxie as Eloise and as much confidence (and red hair) as Pippi, but her spirit of adventure, overactive imagination, and older-sister omniscience catapult her into a league of her own. We met the inquisitive, impulsive Stella and her less reckless little brother, Sam, in Stella, Star of the Sea and in Stella, Queen of the Snow, but are newly delighted with Stella, Sam, and their faithful dog's thoroughly charming foray into the forest.

Stella has seen hundreds of fairies. Sam think he sees one, too, tiny and beautiful, but it is only a butterfly, Stella tells him. "'Do butterflies eat butter?'" asked Sam. 'Yellow butterflies do,' said Stella." As much as Stella seems to know, however, Sam knows a few things, too. That blue butterflies must eat pieces of blue sky, for instance. And that despite her insistence to the contrary, the "rock" in the stream was moving.

Marie-Louise Gay's friendly, engaging watercolors crawl with tiny snails and other woodland creatures that readers might miss the first time through. Stella, Fairy of the Forest will warm the hearts of children and adults alike, especially those who believe that a walk in the woods is an at least potentially magical adventure. (Ages 3 to 8) --Karin Snelson