LORETTA AND THE LITTLE FAIRY
by Gerda Marie Scheidl & translated by J. Alison James & illustrated by Christa Unzner-Fischer
A pleasant, if unexceptional, story about a lonely little girl who meets a fairy just her size. Though she can't do ``real magic'' until she grows up, ``Fairy'' is often invisible. Hoping to help her grow up, Loretta takes the fairy to school to learn to read and then home to bake a cake; but it's helping Loretta make friends with despised Karen next door that wins the fairy her coveted adulthood. The story is a bit simplistic—but truly childlike. It may not even occur to readers that the fairy could be an imaginary friend; and they're sure to be drawn to the easily read chapters by the entrancing pen and watercolor illustrations, where a fairy-tale world glimmers elusively in the background of each appealingly detailed scene. (Fiction/Young reader. 5-8)