Ida Rentoul Outhwaite (1888–1960)

According to the introduction of this little book the artist was a writer as well and published her illustrations alongside her own poetry, so I was surprised to find that the editors decided to pair her fairy drawings with a random selection of poems instead. There were some good inclusions - Keats, Rosetti, etc - but why wouldn't they just keep Outhwaite's poems and pictures together? This obvious oversight dampened the overall effect of the collection for me, since there was a clear lack of connection in many cases of the paired illustrations and poems. I did rather appreciate Outhwaite's drawings though, as they blend elents of Rackham's line and colouring with a touch of Beatrix Potter's softness and femininity.… (plus d'informations)

The story is cute--I like about kids' stories that they don't have to have a powerful symbology, they just have to evoke what it would feel like to have fairy wings and eat magic pies and ride a butterfly chariot and get pinched and prodded by goblins but get away okay in the end, and as long as they don't do anything too racist you're golden (seriously, what the hell, British Empire Kids)--but what really makes this is the beautiful, gossamer-light yet finely and sharply edged drawings, where everything is cloaked in a twee beauty that sets the heart to dancing.… (plus d'informations)