Tiny Jenny: Little Fairy, Big Trouble

One of the hatching eggs in Mr. and Mrs. Wren’s cozy nest is incongruously bright pink, and a small, human-like hand protrudes from it. “Oh dear!” says Blackbird, “Does this mean the fairies are coming back?” But the wingless creature that hatches out isn’t a full fairy, and the kindly Wrens and their feathered offspring embrace her as one of their own, naming her Tiny Jenny. But her innate exuberance—“Well done, me!” she declares when she crashes to the ground after an unsuccessful attempt at flight—alarms the Wrens’ animal neighbors. Upon Owl’s suggestion that she look into her possible fairy background, Tiny Jenny runs away to join the gossamer forest beings, only to discover that they’re actually insouciant bullies (“They didn’t forage for food or gather twigs or sing songs. They just... smashed and stole stuff”). Tiny Jenny is indignant but also torn—does she belong anywhere? Smith (The Mermaid Moon) combines elegantly rendered mixed-media images with whip-smart humor and an irrepressible protagonist—the result is a fractured fairy story with a distinctly contemporary sensibility. Tiny Jenny is rendered with pale skin; the fairies are shown with a range of skin tones. Ages 4–8. Agent: Charlie Bowden, Pickled Ink. (Aug.)