Forests and Faeries - Srivalli Rekha - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Srivalli Rekha

GENRE: Middle-grade Short Story Collection

PUBLICATION DATE: July 3, 2024

RATING: 3.8 stars.

PURCHASE LINK: https://mybook.to/forestsandfaeries

In a Nutshell: An eclectic collection of fanciful stories aimed at middle-graders. As the title promises, each story contains forests and/or faeries. Multicultural in approach. Good for the target age group.

This collection of thirteen stories is an eclectic assortment of fantasy tales, covering moods in shades of light and dark. Some of the tales are like good old animal fables while some highlight the ravages wrought upon nature by humans. Some have sweet little faeries while some have bigger, scarier beasts. Some are based on the earth we know, some are set in planets beyond our ken, and yet others are in fanciful imaginary lands. The stories come from a variety of lands and eras. Each story is thus a unique experience as the characters, the plot, and the moral aren’t repeated.

What is common to the stories is that each of them has either a forest OR a faerie, sometimes both, just as the title promises. While both types of tales were delightful, I enjoyed the forest-based ones better as they are darker and more varied. (But I am sure kids will enjoy faeries more than forests. 😄)

The book aims at middle graders, and many of the stories feature children of the same age. What I liked is that the representation of children, while age-appropriate, wasn’t homogenous. Some were adorable little munchkins and some were wee brats in need of some tough love. But in either case, the children had an active role to play in the proceedings.

I appreciate the portrayal of the parents in the stories. Almost every tale that had a parent in an active role represented the positive and negative emotions of the parent well without depicting them as uncaring villains. So important to do this in children’s books!

Some of the content in the stories is a bit on the darker side. While there is nothing gruesome on page, there are mentions of characters being killed or dying or dead. There are also references to bullying. Some stories have characters in a precarious situation at the end, with their story ending on hope and determination than on a happy and settled resolution. I did like the variety of these circumstances, but children who necessarily want a joyful story might be a little upset at a few of the outcomes.

The writing is simplistic, as is apt for the target audience. However, I do wish the conversations had been a bit more expressive. Kids speak in a bombastic style, with a multitude of emotions and a lot of hyperbole. Accordingly, they also enjoy reading stories in the same tone. Muted writing works better for adult stories, but a little amplification of the actions/reactions and an exuberance in dialogues goes a long way when it comes to children’s works.

As always, I rated the stories individually. Of the thirteen tales, only two of the stories didn’t work that well for me, though they might be a hit with the right age group. The rest ranged from good to great, with one story even hitting the five-star mark. These were my top favourites:

🌼 The Night-time Adventure - I really enjoyed this story! The note at the end is the icing on the cake. To be honest, I don’t know if kids will enjoy this story because it could be a bit too scary for young ones. But the historical fiction fan in me was thrilled to see the factual base of this fictional work. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

🌼 The Abandoned House – Loved this story, not just because of the content but because of the frame story of a mother narrating an adventure from her past to her son during a road trip. The banter between the parents and the bond with their son comes out well. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

🌼 When Elephants Could Fly - A beautiful and meaningful fable about the balance between power and responsibility. That is the kind of story I used to enjoy as a child. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌼 The Golden Apple - A classic good vs. evil fairy tale with loads of magic from an unexpected source. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

All in all, I liked this little story collection. The variety, the forest/faerie theme, and the inclusivity make this a lovely addition to your little one’s library. This isn’t my first time reading this author, and it won’t be the last. 😁

Highly recommend this indie collection to middle graders looking for a splash of the magical and the mysterious, but not necessarily requiring happy endings or light-hearted plots.

3.8 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each tale. (If you are familiar with my ratings, you know that an average going above 3.6 stars is wonderful for an anthology.)

Disclaimer: I have known the author through Facebook for more than four years now and received a complimentary copy of this book from her. I partially beta-read this work, but my review is based on the unproofed ARC. It is impossible to avoid bias when it comes to reviewing a friend’s work, but I have tried to keep my review as fair as possible.