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Piccadilly and The Fairy Polka Hardcover Book
Piccadilly and The Fairy Polka Hardcover Book
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Piccadilly and the Fairy Polka by Lisa Anne Novelline, Art Direction & Cover by Ryan Jude Novelline, Illustrations by Phillip Light. Children’s Picture Book, Fantasy, Adventure (Ages 4-8).
Piccadilly and the Fairy Polka (ages 4-8), the award-winning first installment in the “Piccadilly and her Magical World” series, is a life-affirming and fanciful tale about a little girl with a grand imagination, who is enchanted with the coming of summer. One sunny afternoon, Piccadilly is convinced that she has uncovered a magical and most delightful secret. Readers are invited to join the fun, celebrate the whimsy, and decide for themselves. What is real? What is fantasy? And ultimately, how much does it matter?
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
What do fairies like to eat? Follow the charming Piccadilly to the fairy ring and find out.
On the longest day of the year, the fairies throw a huge party and dance—what else?—the polka. Normally, people can’t see fairies, but the extra sunlight on the summer solstice is captured by the dewdrops, “which triggers a speck of summer delight…which inspires the glow of the fairies!” Or so the fairy prince eventually explains to the delighted Piccadilly, a grinning little girl with a round belly and rounder cheeks. One night, she watches her cat, Rufus, stares intently at a circle of overgrown flowers in the backyard. Probably fireflies, her mother says. But Piccadilly hears “fairy flies” and that night dreams of fairies eating cake. So the next day she enlists her brother’s help in baking a batch of cupcakes. She arranges them in a ring in the garden, right where Rufus had been staring, and unwittingly summons the fairy prince. (Or, maybe, as her mother suggests, she was just dreaming under the tree. “I wish my dreams were as fun as yours,” she says.) Piccadilly’s wide-eyed approach to everything in the world—the real world and the fairy world—is absolutely irresistible. She jumps out of bed in the morning, runs to the garden, dances, bakes, charms her family and fearlessly greets a magical creature, without the slightest skepticism. And it’s clear where little Piccadilly learned her open-mindedness: While both Mom and brother smile wryly at Piccadilly’s tales, neither one teases her or tells her she’s mistaken. What a joy to grow up in a house where fairies are welcome and treated to cake. Novelline (The Dance of Spring, 2011) winds out a story that’s complex enough to bear repeated readings. Light’s illustrations are bright and lively, with colors and shapes that evoke old-school animated films like Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. While all the characters are likable and strong, Piccadilly’s cheeks and nose steal the show.
A warm, vibrant read. It would be wonderful to hear more from Piccadilly and her family.
-Kirkus Reviews
About Piccadilly and her Magical World:
The Piccadilly universe is one wherein children can imagine possibilities, experiment with ideas, and dream solutions as rich and diverse as they are. Additional installments in this series include Piccadilly and the Waltzing Wind and Piccadilly and the Jolly Raindrops.
About the Author:
Lisa Anne Novelline is a poet and a writer. She is the creator of “Piccadilly and her Magical World” and the author of Piccadilly and the Fairy Polka and the award-winning, Piccadilly and the Waltzing Wind. As a former mathematics teacher and problem-solving coach, she is inspired by her profound commitment to the cultivation of creativity and critical thinking along with her abiding love and admiration for nature and its beauty. She holds an MEd in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University, a BS in Psychology from Northeastern University, and a BS in Mathematics from Lesley University. She is a mother of four and lives with her family in Massachusetts.
About the Cover Designer / Art Director:
Ryan Jude Novelline is a Boston-based contemporary artist whose experience includes: Diane Von Furstenberg, GAP, Harvard University, & Walt Disney Imagineering. He has shown work in Boston, Providence, and New York, and has has been featured both domestically and internationally by the Huffington Post, New York Magazine, Hewlett Packard, Yahoo News, Asian Geographic, and a host of others. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design. RyanJudeNovelline.com
About the Illustrator:
Phillip Light is a Character Designer at Disney Television and formerly a Color Stylist at Dreamworks Animation Television. His celebrated art has been featured in galleries, in print, and digitally on blogs and sites across the web. He is an alumnus of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. PhillipLight.blogspot.com
About the recognitions:
The Mom’s Choice Awards® has named Piccadilly and the Fairy Polka as among the best in family-friendly products. The MCA evaluation process uses a propriety methodology in which entries are scored on a number of elements including production quality, design, educational value, entertainment value, originality, appeal, and cost. Evaluators are bound by a strict code of ethics not only to ensure objectivity but also to ensure that the evaluation is free from manufacturer influence.
The INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD recognized Piccadilly and the Fairy Polka by Lisa Anne Novelline; cover and art direction by Ryan Jude Novelline; illustrations by Phillip Light as a WINNER in the category of Book Cover Design. The competition is judged by experts from all aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. They select award Winners and Distinguished Favorites based on overall excellence. “In 2017, we had worldwide participation, from London to Australia, from Portugal to Hong Kong, and are so proud to announce the winners and favorites in our annual INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD. Independent publishing is alive and well, and continues to gain traction worldwide.” said awards sponsor Gabrielle Olczak.
The MOONBEAM CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS recognized the “Piccadilly and her Magical World” Book Series by Lisa Anne Novelline as the 2017 and 2018 BEST PICTURE BOOK SERIES: SILVER award winner.”The Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards are intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators and to support childhood literacy and life-long reading. The Awards recognize and reward the best of these books and bring them to the attention of parents, booksellers, librarians – and to children themselves.”
“Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in the magic will never find it!”