A young girl who loves fairy tales finds out that the bedtime story she was told is more real than she ever thought… This story features a beautiful princess, a handsome and honest hero, magic and a happy ending.
“Anything is possible, my dear, anything is possible. Fairy tales are not made up of thin air. More often than not, a folk tale like this would be based on an ancient legend, which in turn, would have real events at its roots.”
Indeed, fairy tales are not made up of thin air. Yet author Camellia White was cooking dinner one evening when a story just popped into her head. Sixteen days later, it was written. Four days later, it was published – seemingly out of thin air.
That story is her debut novella “Eira and the Weather Sisters,” and it’s hard to imagine its intricate plotting, insightful character development, research and mystery all came together while stirring soups and sauces.
In fact, there’s a little bit of everything in this stew – captive storytelling, personalities, humor, castles and kingdoms, quaint villages, and a touch of magic that brings it all together.
“It contains all the right elements,” says White, “to become a bedtime classic for all ages – a beautiful princess, a handsome and honest hero, magic, and a happy ending. What it doesn’t have are dead parents, wicked stepmothers, evil witches and other horrors you might not want to introduce to a three-year-old just yet.”
In the story, 5-year-old Eira is very advanced for her age, with great intelligence, resilience and skills. She watches the snow from her window on her cozy street in her cozy village and anticipates her family and neighbors gathering at her house for a New Year’s celebration. As the party continues on, Eira goes to bed, where her adult neighbor Nicholas, known as Uncle Frost, tells her a fairy tale.
It’s about an egomaniac princess, spoiled rotten, who must marry by her 20th birthday (in the coming months) in order to inherit the throne. She randomly determines that whoever in the kingdom will deliver her a chipmunk will win her hand.
Setting off to the forest to find said chipmunk for his lazy brother, the good younger brother Griffin encounters a young girl, Summer, who, along with her sisters Winter, Autumn and Spring, possesses magical powers from a necklace. One thing leads to another, and a chipmunk magically appears.
Strangely enough, the magical elements of the fairy tale seem to transport themselves into Eira’s world. When it appears Eira has shattered her mother’s prized vase, the apparent power of a hidden magical medallion prevents the vase from crumbling into pieces.
Eira and Nicholas, using their instincts, intelligence and resourcefulness, start putting two and two together and appear on the verge of an amazing discovery. Is the simple bedtime story told by Nicholas actually hitting closer to home?
Author Camellia White has a vivid imagination and a gift for storytelling. In “Eira and the Weather Sisters,” she has checked off many of the boxes for a great children’s tale: a relatable character, beautiful settings, exciting supporting players, the comfort and warmth of home and family, and the excitement and fanfare of castles, magic and mystery. It’s the kind of book that kids will love to cuddle up with and read with their parents. And it is only one in a wonderful series of book about Eira and her adventures.
Be sure to give them a look – and help your children see that anything is possible.