Warwick Goble

Sprites are creatures mentioned in Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. Dazzling in colour and about the size of large insects, sprites have glistening membranous wings. In fact, they are often confused with exotic insects or flowers at first glance. Considered by many to be the most common type of faerie, sprites prefer to live in deep woods and make their homes high in the branches of trees. They particularly love to live in forests inhabited by treefolk and oth

Stray Sods are creatures featured in Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. The stray sod is a troublesome creature whose entire purpose seems to be leading travelers astray like A weird map. These faeries wander about in open fields and grassy areas and can occur in large numbers. Many consider the stray sod to be a subspecies of the pixie. Others suppose that stray sod are not pixies at all but are created by pixie magic. If this is so, it is unclear if stray sod

Elves (family: Circulifestidae) are a species of powerful, humanoid, woodland-dwelling faerie. While Elves enjoy pastimes such as feasting and merrymaking, they are temperamental, but also wise and dignified. Elves are beautiful and slender in appearance, and their clothing, skin, and hair is subject to seasonal change. Elves organize themselves under regional monarchies, and seem to be of such a status that they can command the respect even of "lesser" faeries. "Elves are capricious by nature,

Caedmon Records (1977)

from March’s Creatures Beyond the Walle Faes, pixies, and sprites look quite similar to the human eye; however, never confuse the three when encountering them. They are all quick to take offense at this perceived slur—even if it is simply due to lack of information. Below is a quick guide to help distinguish between the

Care and Feeding of Sprites is a book written by Holly Black and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi accompaning The Spiderwick Chronicles and Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. As the name suggests, the book's subject is how to keep a Sprite as a pet. Many would have you believe that sprites (or "fairies" as they're often called) are sweet and pretty and ultimately peaceful creatures. But don't let the carefree nature of these dazzling beguilers fool you. Because wh

Margaret Tarrant is one of my favorite illustrators. (Do I say that about all of them?) She was the daughter of landscape painter Percy Tarrant, and studied art formally. She was one of the first people to bring the fairy craze to Europe, with her series of paintings about them-The...