Have you ever encountered a fairy? Perhaps I glimpsed one in the woods of Connecticut many years ago in 2009, hiding in an amethystine sun flare . . .
I remember in the early 2000’s, tiny books were absolutely everywhere! Book shops, department stores, even restaurant gift shops like Cracker Barrel. I found their micro-sized script and illustrations extremely enticing for both cuteness and convenience. Which is another way of saying that I accidentally amassed a small library—here is a modest selection:
Some of them were from my mother. She had a very tattered copy of The Jewels of the Spirit, and was overjoyed to find a new edition that she gave to all three of her daughters one Christmas.
In it she wrote, “I hope you like this as much as I did.”
Her syllabic treasury is now mine to cherish, too:
“Every star is made brighter by the darkness surrounding it.”
“Though the Rose is plucked . . . the Root remains.”
-The Jewels of the Spirit
Some tiny books I thrifted, like this plain but elegant little book, Flowers for My Friend. It was compiled by Christina M. Anello and printed in 1992 in Hong Kong by Peter Pauper Press, Inc. The copyright page also has the following dedication in italics, “For my sister, Marisa.”
My favorite quote inside it is by Elizabeth Barrett Browning:
“The least flower, with a brimming cup, may stand and share its dew-drop with another near.”
Christina and Marisa, I’m glad this little compendium of yours exists.
And of course, there were a plethora of inspirational and encouraging tiny tomes to choose from!
Here is a bright pebble of wisdom from The Spirit of Flight:
“To hope and dream is not to ignore the practical. It is to dress it in colors and rainbows.” -Anne Wilson Schaef
My mother also loved a little book from 1962 called One was Johnny: A Counting Book by Maurice Sendak, and eventually acquired a brand new mini set of Sendak’s work. The pages of her childhood copy barely cling to the binding! The hilarious illustrations show Johnny’s home becoming progressively overrun by wild creatures until he begins to count backwards and tame each disastrous scenario, and ends with the triumphant declaration:
“1 was Johnny, who lived by himself /AND LIKED IT LIKE THAT!”
And then of course, we can’t neglect the wonder of pocket-sized fantasias:
From A Tolkien Treasury, Colin Wilson proclaims, “The children who swallow the star are the poets—like Yeats or Tolkien—who become wanderers between two worlds.”
One of my smallest fairy tale collections disguises itself in a mini card case:
But pop the lid off, and TADA! The wondrous works of Beatrix Potter reveal themselves. Fancy the tale of the squirrel Nutkin and his brother Twinkleberry? I got you covered.
“Nobody can have the soul of me. My mother has had it, and nobody can have it again. Nobody can come into my very self again, and breathe me like an atmosphere.” -DH Lawrence, “Letters” 1936.
Thanks for teaching me to love tales, big and small, short or tall, Mom!
*There is one last matter to attend to in this issue—the newest equine addition to my Artweaver herd of horses. After visiting an aquarium last week, I was inspired by the diminutive beauty of the dwarf seahorse to make June a marine cousin of the land rovers.
Confession: my favorite part of this picture is actually the pink pearl. And if, perchance, you want to practice drawing pearls, too, might I recommend this excellent and easy tutorial by Arts Core.
~*~
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