A Field Guide to the Little People

... the ancient, actual international forces governing earthly incident and momentum lie neither in our heads nor our economics but, rather, in the revelations from A Field Guide to the Little People." -The New York Times Yes, I think that quote does some justice to the spirit of this book. This book has been out of print for some time, but it is readily available and I highly recommend it for your children- if you want them to grow up twisted and warped and living in fear of the dark hours just before dawn when night elves dressed in fresh corpses and demons riding blind and deformed chickens roam the country side! I have a special attachment to this book, since it was given as gift to my mother when she was pregnant with me, and I grew up reading the short paragraph-length stories contained within it. There is a great deal of fodder for nightmares here and the art work in this book is especially haunting. Heinz Edelmann's drawings are far from simplistic, his imagery is dark and unsettling in an indescribable way. His gnarly, tortured lines are reminiscent of Alfred Kubin or Gunter Brus. Also, consider this: the little people here are portrayed as imperfect and cruel and most of the little tales are about child murder, rape, decapitation, murder of pregnant women, greed, lust, senseless evil, and so on, written in a sober and almost detached manner. So, rationalists, materialists- and anyone who is particularly squeamish- be forewarned.

When I first began to look for books to fuel my fascination with fairies, this was the first book I explored. It was entertaining, informative and perfect for an introductory to the beings and personalities of fairy. With a clever lightness of description, Arrowsmith covers fairy beings from all over the world. She writes of the importance of elves and other little people throughout Europe. "Until a few centuries ago, elves still held a position in the folklore of Europe second only to the Devil and Christ."In this guide, arranged like a traditional field guide to flowers or birds, Arrowsmith introduces us to seventy-nine inhabitants of fairy, each with appropriate notes for identification and habitat. She organizes them as light, dark and dusky elves, according to temperament and inclination. The drawings, simple pen and ink style renditions, are simple and humorous. I was particularly impressed by her use of endnotes and a fairly extensive bibliography, although many of her entries are in German or Italian. Another helpful feature is her index of names that cross-references to the rest of the book.If you're looking for a solid, basic book about fairies of many lands, this is a great choice. Although her work is broad and varied, it's written with much fun and a love for all the little people. For me, this small book was a gateway to years of reading, discussion and discovery. I hope it can do the same for you.

Is this a work of scholarship, a trip down memory (or nightmare) lane, or a true field guide? I leave you to be the judge, but this book is an absolute delight. I picked it up when it first came out in hardcover many and many a year ago and have been known to pick it up (still) two or three times a month and read a selection. The entries are short and most are crosss-referenced; in addition, there is a decent bibliography if you wish to keep going in your studies. If you like faeries, don't miss out on this book, but then also remember to leave the Good Folk a little something, just so they stay pleasant.