Solid, Liquid, Gassy: A Fairy Science Story

The charming, curious crowd of fairies from Fairy Science ( www.cmreviews.ca/node/1015 ) are back again.

As the opening sentence states:

Esther doesn’t believe in magic. Which is kind of

a big deal when you are a fairy…She’s a fairy who

prefers a microscope to a wand.

With her purple hair and flowy tunic, Esther looks like the other fairies, but she certainly does not think like them. She has made some converts already, but she is unstoppable in her efforts to lead the rest of the gang to an understanding of the importance of scientific inquiry.

Esther is dedicated to science. She and her friends

use the scientific method to explore the world around them.

First they ask a question, then they do some research.
They each make a hypothesis. They do experiments,

And they examine their results.

Right now, the whole class is busy putting together an exhibition of personal projects for the annual Magic Fair. It’s hard going for Esther to put her ideas across when so many others, even the teacher, would prefer to believe in magic as an explanation for how things work. (Oddly, the teacher, who sports the same copper-coloured bun and broad pink wings we saw in Fairy Science www.cmreviews.ca/node/1015 remains unnamed here, although previously she was called Ms. Pelly Petal). Esther sums up her disgust with the inability of others to see her point of view when she says, “…magic enthusiasts are surprisingly clueless”.

The fairies take a break from their labours to go for a refreshing dip in the neighbouring pond. The problem is – they discover that the pond is missing. Nothing but a mud hole remains in the place where they are used to having a swim.

Speech balloons express the fairies’ notions about what might have happened.

“An ogre drank it.”

“It went down the drain.”

“It fell in love with a mole and moved underground.”

“Maybe it flew away?”
“It went for a stroll in the woods and got lost.”

There is a real question for a scientist here: what did happen to the pond? Hypotheses, research, and experiments follow until the ‘magic’ of the water cycle is determined and explained by Esther and her followers.

Esther thinks that she has convinced everyone that science trumps magic and that she now has “the perfect way to bring science to the Magic Fair”. Those on the side of science have piqued the interest of the other fairy children but don’t seem to have quite got there with the teacher. The best they manage in the way of awards is the one for Best Magic Fair Costume Design with their personifications of solid, liquid and gas.

Esther may not have won any trophies, but like all

good scientists, she knows that discovery is the best reward.

And, undaunted, she moves on. The last spread leads us to believe that her eyes will be looking up to the moon and planets next.

Two pages of back matter consist of ‘Esther’s Rain-Day Experiment’ which encourages readers to test the ideas of evaporation and condensation using simple household items.

In Solid, Liquid, Gassy, Ashley Spires has written another cheerful book that is both a story and a simple science text. She has also provided the crisp, candy-coloured illustrations which feature a variety of wide-eyed fairies with expressions that move from puzzlement to excitement to content. The book shows that ‘Science’ fairies and ‘Magic’ fairies certainly have wildly variant views on how the world works. Solid, Liquid, Gassy would be a fine addition to primary school and public library collections.