Butterfly Wings and a Petal Skirt

About this drawing

A flower fairy looks like the friendliest creature around, but fairies were not always this sweet. The word comes from the Latin fata, connected to the idea of fate. Long ago, people believed these beings could shape your luck from the day you were born.

In Ireland and Scotland, folk tales described a hidden people living inside hills and forests. You did not want to make them angry! Families left out milk or food for them to stay on their good side. Some stories warned that if you ate fairy food, you might never get home.

Tiny, winged fairies are a much newer idea. William Shakespeare helped make them small in A Midsummer Night's Dream, more than 400 years ago. Later, in the 1800s, English painters and children's book artists added delicate butterfly wings. That is the look most of us picture today.

Plenty of American kids have kept the magic going by building fairy houses. In Maine, for example, people make tiny homes from bark, moss, and pebbles along the coast. All you need is a quiet corner of the yard. Once you color your fairy, think about where she might live. Would she pick a tulip, a rose, or the shade of a big green leaf?

• fairies
• flowers
• fantasy
• spring