Seven Autumn Leaves From Fairyland

There was once a time when fairy tales were new, and this is one of those collections that remembers that magic. E. Cunningham offers seven original stories, each its own small universe of wonder, where wishes carry consequences, kindness is rewarded, and the impossible feels inevitable. These aren't retellings of familiar legends but fresh inventions: tales of children who stumble through garden gates into other worlds, of talking animals with secrets to keep, of ordinary courage meeting extraordinary circumstance. The language has the lilt of being read aloud, the kind of book a parent might open after dinner, the chapters stretching out like a promise. There's mischief here, yes, but also a gentle moral compass woven through each story, not heavy-handed, just the quiet assurance that generosity and bravery matter. For any child who's ever believed that the forest at the edge of town holds something extraordinary, or any family looking for stories that don't talk down to their readers, these seven leaves from Fairyland are ready to be turned.