A large (10” x 12”?) hardback book of fairy poems. I received this book as a a gift in the late 1950s. There is a poem, “Ring Around the Moon” inside, and a large illustration either on the cover or inside of a tree with fairies. It is illustrated throughout with fairies in magical landscapes.
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
This sounds like it might be The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies, which was published by Simon and Schuster in 1951. It is a collection of poems and short stories about elves and fairies with “assorted pixies, mermaids, Brownies, Witches and Leprechauns” selected by Jane Werner and illustrated by the wonderful Garth Williams. The first entry is a poem “When a Ring’s Around the Moon” by Mary Jane Carr, and there is a picture of a tree with fairies on the page facing that poem. There are various other pictures of trees with fairies: the one on the front cover also includes a boy and girl.
I checked it out and it is not the one I remember after all.
Thank you! That could be the book I remember.
Actually there is another Golden Book of Elves and Fairies, and I think that is the one!
I agree. That was the first book that came to mind when I read this entry. I remember the Garth Williams illustrations. Here is a picture of the poem from Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/58335757648530362/