Near the end of World War I, teenage Elsie Wright, a talented artist, drew pictures of fairies, cut them out and, with her nine-year-old cousin Frances Griffiths, photographed them in the glen near their home. They told their families the fairies were real—a shared secret without malicious intent. But after the war, Elsie’s mother told a member of the Theosophist Society—believers in fairy lore—about the amazing pictures of fairies. Word quickly spread, and one of the photos was published to great sensation. Even fairy believer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote Elsie. Author Mary Losure’s story is sized like an intimate novel and has a warm, inviting tone, but it’s also a well-documented and well-researched true story. She describes the girls’ actions without judgment while leaving readers plenty of room for speculation on each one’s motivation for maintaining the lie for decades (they didn’t reveal the truth until the BBC tracked them down in the 1980s). Elsie’s creativity fostered a vibrant spirit. Frances was quieter but also steadfast in her belief that although the fairies they photographed weren’t real, there were, indeed, fairies in the glen—because she saw them numerous times. A beautifully designed little book features reproductions of several of the fairy photos. (Ages 9–12)

The enchanting true story of a girl who saw fairies, and another with a gift for art, who concocted a story to stay out of trouble and ended up fooling the world.

Frances was nine when she first saw the fairies. They were tiny men, dressed all in green. Nobody but Frances saw them, so her cousin Elsie painted paper fairies and took photographs of them "dancing" around Frances to make the grown-ups stop teasing. The girls promised each other they would never, ever tell that the photos weren't real. But how were Frances and Elsie supposed to know that their photographs would fall into the hands of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? And who would have dreamed that the man who created the famous detective Sherlock Holmes believed ardently in fairies-- and wanted very much to see one? Mary Losure presents this enthralling true story as a fanciful narrative featuring the original Cottingley fairy photos and previously unpublished drawings and images from the family's archives. A delight for everyone with a fondness for fairies, and for anyone who has ever started something that spun out of control.