Review by Ian Keogh

Avery’s family have just moved to a new area, giving her plenty of nature to explore once she walks out of the back door. It’s nice, but she’s yet to make any friends. That changes when she tumbles down a hill and flops into a circle of mushrooms. As seen on Rowan Kingsbury’s sample art, they begin to glow and Avery has soon shrunk down to the size of a fairy, and it’s not long afterwards that she meets one, Birch. He has a few tasks to do, and if Avery helps him out, he’ll ensure she regains her true size to return home.

Aimed at very young readers and giving them a consistently moving adventure and a magical new world to explore, Avery and the Fairy Circle succeeds in providing adventure. It’s a world where blackberries are the size of your head, and small birds are to be feared as predators, but deer are friendly. Avery herself is smart enough to question things rather than taking them at face value, and Kingsbury is imaginative enough to ensure children will look at everyday countryside joys through new eyes. She doesn’t attempt to draw a reality, though, as this magical world isn’t multiple shades of green. Instead pinks and orange predominate to create an individual view. These are busy illustrations giving readers plenty of opportunities to explore visually.

Pedants will find themselves screaming at Kingsbury’s choice to use the term “an herbalist”, but the delights outweigh such concerns, and this is a world positively demanding another visit.