 |
|
|
A Touch of Magic: The Appletta Letters
Review by Shay Seaborne
* * *
* *
* |
|
|
|
|
|
Once in a while you come across something extra-special, so worth sharing that you want to tell everyone. And sometimes, that something extra-special is also a wonderful secret. So it is with the Appletta Letters, named after the playful tooth fairy who writes them.
Appletta uses fanciful writing, magical-looking paper, and delightful illustrations that are colorful, imaginative and interesting. Each letter reveals a sweet and whimsical story bearing a gentle message. The themes interlace with the lives of young children, dealing with feelings, relationships and imagination. Every letter addresses the child by name, in Appletta's jazzy handwriting, which is punctuated and accentuated by swirls, stars, wiggly lines, and spirals. The Appletta letters are sent to the adult who ordered them, so they can be given or tucked away for discovery at an appropriate time.
Even before I could hide out and take a careful look at the "Deluxe Blue Set," which includes 20 multiple-paged Appletta Letters, what I saw made me smile again and again. Immediately I began to imagine how much my younger daughter would enjoy these letters. Laurel has always had a vivid imagination and considered fairies to be real, but seemed to be outgrowing the idea as she approached her 9th birthday. Amazingly, Appletta rekindled my daughter's belief.
Laurel found the 4-page "One Nice Long Letter" outside where I had placed it, and rushed in to tell us. She noticed the fancy envelope—handmade paper sprinkled with wisps of greenery and flower petals, including marigold and rose—and opened it with anticipation. The curly lettering was unfamiliar at first, but soon Laurel was reading at her usual speed, interspersed with pauses as she repeatedly looked up at me, grinning. She seemed to suspect some connection between the letters and me, but she didn't want to let on. Laurel relished the story, and we all marveled at the playful illustrations and fancy paper embedded with indescribable glimmery designs and flecks of silver and gold, which make the Appletta letters look truly magical.
I continued to "hide" each of the 20 letters from the set, choosing times based on Laurel's mood, and sometimes, when a particular story related to events in her life. Laurel found Appletta's pinwheel/tooth pouches on a day when she needed a perk-me-up, and was delighted to engage in a pleasing activity on an otherwise "yucky" day. These clever little handmade-paper gems look like flowers, and can be used as pouches for keeping fallen teeth, or may be pinned to a stick to make pinwheels. Another time Laurel found a letter explaining the trick Appletta learned from a dream: how to use an imaginary white sheet to make anger and sadness disappear. That idea stuck with Laurel, who has used the trick several times since she read the letter. It has been gratifying to see my daughter's imagination continue to bloom with Appletta's help.
Laurel's 12-year-old sister, Caitlín, enjoyed helping to hide the letters, or distracting her younger sister while I hid them. It made her feel mature to be in on the secret and to see Laurel's expressions of delight and wonder.
Although Appletta is a tooth fairy, her wisdom, whimsy and fun would appeal to almost any young child, girl or boy. Most of today's children are bombarded with material goods and cross advertising intended to feed the desire for more, but you won't find any of that in the Appletta letters. Each stands on its own and is designed to inspire imagination. Children are introduced to intriguing characters like the mischievous Wag-at-the-Wa, the Pillywiggins, "fratched" Tattered Tommy, the Bitties, and the Whirling Clampernappers. Appletta's letters encourage children to believe in fairies: where to find them, how to see - or even smell them and how to notice what fairy mischief has been done.
My daughter revels in the pastel envelopes strewn with petals and leaves, and spotted a marigold seed in one, which she plans to put in a pot, to see if it will grow. The envelopes also sparked Laurel's interest in papermaking, which she wants to try. She treasures the writing, illustrations, stories, and stories-within-stories so much that she keeps them stacked in the order she received them, stored in a special box so, in her words, "I can read them for the rest of my life." The curly writing in Appletta's letters also influenced Laurel's artwork; she has created new pieces that include swirls and curls, but remain her own style. Much to Laurel's pleasure, one of her Appletta-inspired designs ended up as the logo for the 2002 Virginia Home Education Association Conference & Curriculum Fair, and was even printed on the back of the organization's t-shirts.
Laurel received other goodies from Appletta, as well. The Bear and Fairy Masks, and two of Appletta's cheery, twinkling Fairy Dolls, which she named Sparkle and Autumn. These are all made of richly enticing papers, and the Fairy Masks and Fairy Dolls arrive in kit form, so children can apply the decorative handmade paper leaves, stars and feathers to suit themselves. In the wings, waiting for its cue, is the Star Journal, an elegantly simple star-shaped item bound with a flaxen cord long enough to allow a child to wear it over the shoulder as a take-along on imaginary adventures.
Included in the "Deluxe Blue Set" are four handmade paper tooth-pouches and a copy of Angela Elmore's "Appletta Tooth Fairy and the Whirligigs," a book created with still more magical paper, and hand bound with flax cording. Another story within a story, this is about the two kinds of brownies (the chocolate type and the fairy kind), and how they are related. I decided to save the book for last, as a grand finale after Laurel found all the letters in the Deluxe Blue Set. She was thrilled with the book, seems to have come to fully believe in Appletta, and is delighted to have her as her tooth fairy, even when she didn't have the prospect of losing any teeth in the near future. A loose tooth used to bring Laurel anxiety and tears, but not now. Since Appletta made herself known, one of Laurel's cuspids has become loose, and she is actually looking forward to the day the tooth comes out. "Now that I know Appletta is my tooth fairy, I'm excited about losing another tooth," she enthused. In one of her letters, Appletta says, "believing is important," and it is! (So please don't mention this article to Laurel. Shhhh!)
Find Appletta through Rosenberry books, etc., a publishing company that is supportive of homeshooling.
See www.rosenberrybooks.com for a peek at the artwork, stories and more.
|
Obtain a hand-bound catalog by e-mailing your name and address to: catalog&order@rosenberrybooks.com.
|
|
|
Or speak to one of Appletta's cheerful helpers (some of whom are homeschoolers) by calling the toll free number, 1-800-723-0336, to order with a credit card.
Prices begin at $6 for an introductory "One Nice Letter." New items include Fairy Wand kits available in the Nature, Purple Star and White Star themes to match the Star Journals, Fairy Dolls and Fairy Mask kits in a medley of sumptuous handmade papers. Gift packaging is a blue and silver Tyvek® "Sun&Moonvelope" that is so appealing you will want to re-use it.
© 2004 Shay Seaborne- All rights reserved.
Shay Seaborne and her husband Scott homeschool their two daughters in Woodbridge, VA. Shay facilitates the FOLC eclectic homeschool network, moderates the VaEclecticHomeschool statewide E-mail discussion list and firmly supports her fully inclusive, member-directed, all volunteer state homeschool organization, the Virginia Home Education Association. She delights helping to make magic happen.
Virginia Home Education Association
|
|
Visit the Appletta Fairy Catalog
|
Read more about the Importance of Appletta
|
Appletta is a registered trademark of Rosenberry books, etc.
Rosenberry books, etc. is a registered trademark of Rosenberry books, etc.
Rosenberry books, etc.
1-800-723-0336
www.rosenberrybooks.com
rosenberrybooks@rosenberrybooks.com
|
|
|
