THE GREAT SOCK SECRET

If you have not seen a fairy, then you are not looking in the right place—or maybe the time isn’t right and they are being warned away by a friend.

When Sarah’s mother decides it’s time to look for lost socks, Sarah tries very hard to stop her: “she knew where all the odd socks were,” and the accompanying illustration makes it clear they’re not just behind the sofa cushions. One is a sled for a fairy, another is a shower curtain; a third is a cozy, diminutive sleeping bag. Sarah does her best to stall or distract her mother, silently warning the fairies to stay concealed—something they clearly don’t like to do, as the illustrations depict the fairies playing (with the socks) in every room in the house. Jones’ artwork has a soft line, matter-of-factly combining the mundane with the fantastic. These fairies look like good fun, ready for some mischief, like taking command of all those missing socks. In this Australian import, Sarah and her mother are depicted with light-brown skin and puffy black hair; the fairies display many skin tones and hair colors and textures, implying that the humans could be of Aboriginal descent.

Like Sarah, readers will breathe a sigh of relief when her mother abandons her search for the socks—and maybe they’ll start peeking around for fairies in their own homes.