Yellow is a favourite colour of fairies. Grace Webster

Poisonous looking Peony seeds

The lady there told us that the word for drug comes from an old dutch word “droog” which means dried plants. I thought that was really interesting. She also told us that there are over 7000 plants still being used in medicines today.

Here are some pictures for you. We found fairy homes on an old staircases, at Kew Botanic Gardens, at the Physic Garden, up a tree, in an old pot, on a window sill and underneath a huge hydrangea. Mummy and I would love to see any pictures you might have of fairy homes. I have to go now. Robin Hood is coming on the television!

Fairy stairs

Kew Gardens in a glass house. Fairies like it because it's warm.

A perfect hidey hole for frogs and fairies

A fairy home at Chelsea Physic Garden

Written by Grace with typing help from Mummy. x

Here’s what Tess has to say about the wonderfully watery world of mermaids:

My Life with Mermaids
Written by Tess (aged 3 and a half)
Mermaids are my favourite kind of fairy. I used to get mermaids and marmalade confused and call them mermalaids. They are also sometimes known as sea fairies because they live under the sea. I am always on the lookout for them when I’m out on the water with my family in our little boat. I haven’t seen one near where I live yet but I know they are there as they sometimes leave their mermaid necklaces behind on the beach.

My mum has started reading me a book called The Sea Fairies by the same author who wrote the Wizard of Oz. It is all about the adventures of a little girl called Trot and Cap’n Bill who meet some mermaids and go on an adventure under the sea:

….Rising from the blue water was a fair face around which floated a mass of long blonde hair. It was a sweet girlish face with eyes of the same deep blue as the water and red lips whose dainty lips disposed two rows of pearly teeth. The cheeks were plump and rosy, the brows gracefully pencilled, while the chin was rounded and had a pretty dimple in it…

…a new face even fairer than the other with a wealth of brown hair wreathing the lovely features, And the eyes smiled kindly into those of the child. “Are you a – a mermaid?” asked Trot curiously. She was not a bit afraid. They seemed both gentle and friendly.

“We are dear. We are the water fairies.”

People often say awful things about mermaids for example that they cause shipwrecks, but actually its the other way around, mermaids look out for seafarers and try to steer them away from danger. Here is a photo of a really famous mermaid who has her own statue in Copenhagen. She is “The Little Mermaid” that Hans Christian Anderson wrote about in the fairytale.
I know that Mermaids are real because my Aunty La La is a mermaid. She has a beautiful tail with green and blue scales. Here are some photos of her. Isn’t she just lovely?

Thank you so much Tess. We think your Aunty is awesome. I wonder what other people think?
with love and fairy wishes from Grace x

We went hunting for fairies, Mummy and I planted seeds into our vegetable garden and we made a nest for Easter. But that’s not what was really good. We visited Mama’s friend, Jennie Churchill who has an awesome garden called Kiloren. Mummy said it was designed by Edna Walling who is quite famous. Her name reminds me of Enid Blyton who wrote some of my favourite books, especially The Magic Faraway Tree. I think Edna must believe in magic because the garden was FULL of cool hiding places for fairies and water sprites and tree fairies. There were lots of big trees and ponds and paths that went all over the garden.

My cousins and I played hide and seek there. There was heaps of fairy moss and tiny, tiny flowers called Cyclamens and lots of acorns. But what was best of all, I found some PERFECT fairy mushrooms. I have never, ever seen them before and I was so excited. They made me want to whisper because I knew fairies and deep magic must be about. Mummy said we couldn’t pick them so instead Jennie took some photos. I wanted to put them here so that everyone who believes in fairies knows what they look like. I wish that they grew in my garden.

I don’t think they can grow in my garden so Mama and I are going to get some normal mushrooms and paint them red with food dye and stick bits of white icing on top. Then I’ll be able to eat them! Yum. Mummy said that if anyone who reads this has fairy mushrooms in their garden, I should ask them to send me some photos. Can you do that please?

Mummy also told me Jennie is selling Kiloren. I WISH we could buy it. Mummy said she wished that too….

Written by Grace with typing and editing help from Mummy.

This morning Mummy and I were running really late for school. I couldn’t find my sneakers and I had a tennis lesson. We were both in a big panic. I went to look on our verandah and then I saw the most horrible thing. A fairy’s wing lying on the ground. Mummy thought it belonged to a Dragonfly but I’m sure it belongs to a fairy. We have put it on some leaves and I hope the fairy isn’t dead and that maybe her friends can help sow it back on.

I think this happened because someone said “I don’t believe in fairies”. I don’t even like writing that. Because if you say it, somewhere a fairy dies. I hope it wasn’t my brother that said it. So PLEASE even if you don’t believe in them, just think it, don’t say it. I think you also have to clap your hands when you say “I believe in fairies”. It makes them happy.

I will be sad at school today.

Love Grace
x

Posted with typing and editing help from Mummy.

This year I am in Year 3. I was really pleased because this year I got a male teacher for the first time ever. Sparkle thought that was amazing news.

She and I had a great time over the holidays. We spent most of our time in our pool. Sparkle has to take her wings off when she swims. It makes me laugh because then she just looks like a little person but she is still very pretty. When it rains, she sometimes takes them off as well and puts them in her bag which is waterproof. I didn’t know fairies could do that! She climbed the palm tree beside our pool while she had her wings off. That made her REALLY tired.

We also went to our farm for a while over the holidays. Sparkle rode on a sheep and had great fun. She also climbed lots of trees with me. She also likes hanging out with the butterflies in our butterfly bush. Sparkle likes hiding in the sunflowers at my farm. She got a fright when she saw the orange spider there. Can you see it? Mummy took the photo and it took me ages to see it.

I am trying really hard to do great hand stands. Sometimes, Sparkle helps me, by holding my feet to keep me steady. She is such a good friend.

Well, I had better go now. I will try and write again soon.

Love from Grace.

I wanted to make a book because I think most of the books about fairies are OK, but they don’t really talk about how nature and fairies work together. Did you know that every flower has a fairy to look after it? Also, my mum’s friend writes about Little Humbugs. They are REALLY cool. They help nature stay clean and beautiful all the time.

Sparkle wanted to make the book because some people like to capture fairies and try and keep them. Like insects in a jar. We both think this is VERY mean. If fairies can’t fly around all the time they can get very sick. Mummy said the best way to catch fairies is to “catch” them by drawing them and writing about them in a book. Sparkle hugged Mummy on the ear then, because she thinks that’s a GREAT idea. So please draw fairies from now on – don’t try to catch them. I’ve tried to take photographs too, but they don’t work very well.

Anyway, here’s a little bit of what Sparkle and I wrote. We haven’t finished it yet. We also did some pictures.

SIGNS OF NATURE

If you hear a rustle in the wind, it means a fairy is near. A fairy is always close if you believe in them.

The flowers that Sparkle and I love:

Jacarandas. I like the jacaranda because it sways with little flowers falling off. Fairies use the petals to make pretty purple dresses. Daddy doesn’t like them much because they keep falling in our pool.

Bluebells.

We have Bluebells at our farm. I like them because they make the ground look happy. Fairies live in them too so you have to be careful to watch where you are walking. My Mummy found a sentence from a lady called Emily Bronte about Bluebells which I like. It says;

The blue bell is the sweetest flower
That waves in summer air
Its blossoms have the mightiest power
To soothe my spirit’s care

Forget me nots. We have 1000′s and 1000′s of forget me nots. The fairies like them because they use the petals to make headbands. Mummy says she wishes she could keep the dogs away from them because the seeds are really really sticky. She says that’s why they are called forget me nots!

Poppies. I called my toy dog Poppy, because her ears remind me of the floppy petals. Fairies use the petals of poppies as blankets or sometimes as a flying carpet. They sprinkle a bit of fairy dust on them and then can zoom all around the garden. The buds of poppies are strong and hairy. Fairies use these as boats.

Hibiscus. I am really good at drawing Hibiscus. Fairies like to make jams out of the petals and they use the pointy bit in the middle as a broom.

Daffodils. Mummy calls them daffydown dillies. That makes me and Sparkle laugh. Daffodils are very important to fairies.

We also like Pansies and Violas and Dandelions but we haven’t written about them yet. I hope you like what we wrote. We’ll try and do some more soon. I break up for summer holidays soon so we’ll have lots more time to write and draw. Bye!!!!

* Editor’s note: Sparkle is the fairy that lives on Grace’s shoulder.

I also LOVE our farm because there are lots of fairies who live there. We have a whole forest full of them. But some had to move because some of the trees died during our drought. So Mummy has planted 22 new trees in our garden so the fairies have moved there. There are blossom fairies, silver zoomers, pink dashes, white zappers, red buzzers and also, only sometimes, I see a rainbow-coloured one. Mummy says they are very rare. She would like to see one of them! She thinks she might have to get some glasses but I told her you don’t need glasses to see fairies. You just have to know how to look. I am teaching her about that.

Mummy and I took some photos on the weekend of me looking for fairies and also places where fairies like to live. You have to be very very quiet and be happy to sit still for a long time. I don’t mind that because I get to see what Mother Nature has been doing. This weekend she made it rain and she also made my sunflower go droopy. I hope you like my story and my pictures. Bye Bye. My dinner is ready and I am hungry. from Grace (with editing and typing help from Mummy). PS.Mummy’s friend Alison asked me about Hamadryads. I had to look that up. They are a tree fairy who is actually part of the tree or even the tree itself. It is good to cuddle trees. I think that my tree fairy friends might be them. I’m going to find some pictures.
“>We love to play! Click the link here —> to visit Childhood 101!

My favourite fairies are tree fairies. They are really awesome.

I had to tell my mummy a story last week and I was scared she might be sad about it. You see, I am really a fairy. I promise. The fairy Queen sent me to my mummy’s tummy to be born as a person, to keep an eye on humans. She wanted me to watch out for computers and stuff. But then a goblin stole the spell to send me back to be a fairy. So now I am always mummy’s daughter. I was scared mummy might be upset about this but she was OK!!!!!!! She just gave me a hug and said if I found the spell, could she come back to fairy land with me. I would love her to see that world.

That’s all I’m going to write now because I have to do my homework.

I want to tell you lots more stories but there are some I won’t be able to share because they are SECRET fairy business.

Fairy kisses……
(Written by Grace with a little editing help from Mummy).