Fairies and Chimneys (black and white)

The Editor's Preface

I'm so pleased to bring this volume to market. These are some of my favorite poems. I fell in love with them when I was a young girl, long, long ago.

And I love them still.

I'm an editor now and as I read these poems over now, I see some lines I would have edited, if I had been asked my opinion. But since I was not asked, I have not tinkered. Because I am not only an editor; I'm a writer as well. And as a writer, I have a great deal of respect for authors and their rights to retain their own voices.

Since I am not, however, an artist I have had no compunction over manipulating the art in the book. I stretched and cut and tucked and even, in a few instances, painted over the pictures in this book. I just tinkered a little, adding a small fairy here or there where one was wanted. Well . . . okay. In one instance I admit . . .  I added a bus. (may the poor artist forgive me).

I also flipped images to suit myself. For fun, when I flipped images, I left the artists' signatures intact—backwards.

I hope you, dear reader, will get over my poor treatment of the art and will love the words and the pictures they paint as much as I did and do. Rose Fyleman scattered her thoughts into the world like so much dandelion fuzz, and here they have landed, over a century later, in your lap. Lucky, lucky you. I trust the faithful fairies will point from their world to things that are of value in our world.

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