Project Fairy

Mab Macclesfield is a primary school aged girl. Her brother, Robin, named after Robin Goodfellow – also known as Puck, the Shakespearean fairy, is in Reception. Their Dad left when Mab was much younger and Robin was a toddler. This caused their Mum, who is obsessed by fairies, to have a mental breakdown. The children are in foster care for a year.

Will they ever see their dad again and do fairies really exist? These are the two main questions Wilson’s novel posits. In short, the reader learns that fairies do exist in the form of Bindweed, an amusingly cantankerous and pedantic fairy. Wilson plays with the reader’s preconceptions about fairies and turns most of them on their heads.

Dean’s plentiful black and white illustrations add much to the whimsical feel of this narrative.