This is an advance, uncorrected proof.
Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.
This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.
By Lars van de GoorCharacter artwork by Giulia Tomai
Text by Gabby Dawnay
I dedicate this book to Pauline Remmers, who is no longer among us. She could look, study and enjoy my artworks as no other. –L.v.d.G. For my great-grandma –G.T.
For nature lovers, dreamers and fairy seekers everywhere... –G.D.
Through the Fairy Door © 2023 Magic Cat Publishing Ltd Text © 2023 Gabby Dawnay Illustrations © 2023 Lars van de Goor Character artwork by Giulia Tomai
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First published in 2023 by Magic Cat Publishing Ltd Unit 2 Empress Works, 24 Grove Passage, London E2 9FQ, UK
The right of Gabby Dawnay to be identified as the author of this work and Lars van de Goor to be identified as the illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 (UK).
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electrical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-913520-79-3
The illustrations were created digitally Set in Botony, Bentham and Elicit Script
Published by Rachel Williams and Jenny Broom
Designed by Stephanie Jones and Ella Tomkins
Edited by Rachel Williams and Katie Cotton
Manufactured in China
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In a faraway village there lives a child called Willow, who notices the small things.
Things like green moss peeping through cracks, the tiny flowers that bloom in hidden corners…
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… and a strange bird, fluttering just out of reach. It leads Willow to a hidden door. No one else in the village notices it – they are far too busy rushing about.
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No time to slow down and look around them. No time to notice the small things. Willow reaches out to touch the door and…
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… she finds herself in a great wood. Hello, says a voice. It’s the bird! But it doesn’t exactly look like a bird any more.
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Willow rubs her eyes. “Are you a… ?” she asks. Yes, says the fairy.
Smallest of all but strong are we Keeping the forest wild and free.
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Bright green shrubs and tender grasses have appeared. Everywhere, everywhere is new life. Blossoms cover everything in pink happiness.
“Where am I?” Willow whispers.
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You are in the Magic Forest, says the fairy. We are its keepers. Willow gasps as a butterfly lands on her nose, then dances away through the woods. Let’s follow! says the fairy, and they do.
Helping to gather leaves and sticks Building the nest that holds the chicks.
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In a clearing, Willow stops to watch a bird fly into the tree, carrying a wriggling worm in its beak.
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“Am I lost?” she asks. Maybe, says the fairy. But being lost is part of the adventure!
Into the misty morning dew Sowing seeds to make things new.
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The air is filled with the scent of summer. There are bees murmuring in a field nearby. They are very noisy!
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“Why do they work so hard?” Willow asks. They are busy being, the fairy says.
“Can I help?” says Willow.
Greening the ground beneath your feet
Warming the grass with summer heat.
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The sun dazzles and nearby, a snake is resting in the dappled shade of a tree.
The fairy tells Willow to pick a fluffy dandelion and blow.
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Its downy seeds turn into fairies that float and shimmer in the light. Willow chases them as they fly away to plant new flowers. The forest hums with contentment.
Afer the sun has grown the fruits
Then comes the rain for thirsty roots. This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.
Now all the trees are splendidly golden-red-yellow-orange and gorgeous!
“Why are we watering everything?” Willow asks.
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Because everything needs water to grow, answers the fairy happily. “Even… bears?” asks Willow. Yes! says the fairy. And rabbits too!
Climbing the branch that reaches tall Shaking the leaves until they fall.
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Well, it just so happens that at that moment, Willow spies a bear. She stands very, very still – her heart is beating loudly.
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The bear is on his own path, says the fairy quietly. Just let him be.
The bear shuffles towards a tree and has a good back scratch. Then he moves on.
Helping the worms to turn the earth Feeding the roots ’til spring’s rebirth. This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not quote without comparison to the finished book.
One minute golden, the trees are now bare. “Why does everything always change?” Willow asks.
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Because everything living is growing, says the fairy.
“I wonder if trees get cold,” says Willow, shivering. She reaches her arms around a tree trunk and hugs it tight. The world is turning but the earth is solid under her feet.
Into the winter, icy-cold This is the tale that must be told.
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Time to go, the fairy says in a voice like feathers.
“I don’t want to,” Willow responds. “I want to stay here and help you!”
You can still help, says the fairy gently.
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Willow shakes her head. “How? I’m too small to do anything.”
The fairy smiles. No one is ever too small. Remember, a tiny acorn can grow into a giant oak. The door opens…
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And Willow is standing exactly where she had been before she left. It is as if time stood still. “Fairy?” she says. “Bird… ?” But everyone is still rushing about, too busy to notice her. Willow feels very small and alone.
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She pushes her hands deep inside her pockets. “Oh… ?” she says, finding they are full of seeds. She gasps as a bird swoops down and takes a seed in her beak. The wind carries the rest high into the sky.
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And slowly but surely, those tiny seeds...
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start to grow!
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“We may be small but we are strong. Wild is the world where we belong. Under the stars this Earth we share – we are the children everywhere!”
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“Everything changes, now we know, the smallest of seeds will start to grow. Just as a seed becomes a tree… we are the change that needs to be.”
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Have you ever seen a fairy door?
Next time you go for a walk, take time to look for the little things.
If you live in a city, are there any tiny green shoots growing between the cracks in the pavement? Can you hear the birds singing? Perhaps you’ll spot a bee buzzing among the flowers...
Or pick a seeded dandelion and blow – watch the tiny fairies floating and dancing far away!
No one is too small to make a difference – we are all part of this great planet and we all have a place here. Plants and creatures are busy growing and living and going about their business, just like people. There is so much to see – so many small things are happening in nature all the time!
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And maybe, just maybe if you look hard enough, you might find a tree with a hidden fairy door in it, too...
Lars van de Goor was born in 1964 on a houseboat in the middle of lush farmland in the Netherlands, and here he grew up being part of the nature that surrounded him. His first passion was music, and he started to work as a photographer in 2007. Influenced by romantic landscape painters, Lars’s main source of inspiration comes from the mysterious encounter of nature and light, and the main theme of his work is trees. These he respectfully depicts in their old power and timeless energy. Lars won the Hasselblad Master Awards in the landscape nature category, and the prestigious Trierenberg Super Circuit, and his work is beloved by collectors all over the world. Through the Fairy Door is his first book for children.
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Giulia Tomai is a freelance illustrator based in Rome, Italy. Her work has been awarded, selected and exhibited by the Society of Illustrators New York, the American Illustration, the Bologna Children Books Fair, the Shanghai International Children Books Fair and 3X3 magazine.
Gabby Dawnay is an award-winning author of children’s books, a regular contributor to OKIDO magazine, and a scriptwriter for children’s television. Her best-selling ‘If I had a... ’ picture book series has been translated into more than 20 languages.
This is an advance, uncorrected proof. Not for resale, duplication, or reposting. Please do not