The Great Encyclopedia of Faeries divides the faery realm into several categories: Maidens of clouds and of time, The faeries of the hearth, The golden queens of the middle world, The faeries of rivers and the sea, The maidens of the green kingdoms, and The ethereal ones of infinite dreams. Within these we find a huge diversity of fair folk from world mythology, from the Norse Valkyries and the Russian Babouchka to Scotland's Mélusine, creatures like the Selkies and Swan Maidens, or Celtic or Arthurian magical figures such as Morgan le Fey and Viviane.

This is a gift book: larger than A4, with colour illustrations by Roland and Claudine Sabatier on every page. It shouldn't be expected to be as comprehensive as, for example, folklorist Katharine Briggs' classic A Dictionary of Fairies. It measures up well, though, to Nancy Arrowsmith's A Field Guide to the Little People, covering as they both do over 70 types of faeries or individual characters. The text, by Pierre Dubois, is considerably more valuable than the pleasant but somewhat stylised artwork; it gives the mythological background, in many cases retelling old folk tales; there are also sidebars on size, appearance, dress, clothes, food, habitat, customs and activities, making this not just an attractive art book but a useful resource. --David V Barrett