Vocabulary & Various Visuals
For each book that we read for Fall Into Fantasy, Alexa and I will do a post inspired by it. In the Fairyland series, Alexa immediately noticed the vocabulary and I was struck by the illustrations. The language in this series is so clever, and there's so much wordplay going on. The writing makes your brain work. And the illustrations were the perfect complement - whimsical, detailed and eye-catching. So, for today's post, we decided to highlight a few of our favorite words and illustrations from fantasy novels!
Three words that are favorites for three different reasons:
FOR THE SCENE | Wingardium Leviosa from The Harry Potter Series
This isn't necessarily my favorite spell from Harry Potter, but it's definitely one of my favorite moments. Why? When Hermione Granger corrects Ron's pronunciation, it's the moment I knew she was my spirit animal. Used to levitate objects, this spell could come in handy... if you know how to say it.
FOR THE SOUND | Chimaera from The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series
The audiobook reader for this series is incredible. Honestly, she makes every word sound like magic. But there was something about chimaera in particular that I just loved hearing said aloud. The mythical creature sounds a little scary, but the word itself is quite lovely!
FOR THE SILLINESS | Frabjous from Jabberwocky in Through the Looking-Glass
There's a whole lot of nonsense in this poem by Lewis Carroll! It plays with language in such a whimsical and hilarious way. Out of all of its made-up words, this one is my favorite. I like how silly it sounds - and that it suggests fabulous or joyous.
And my favorite from Fairyland:
FOR THE SERIES | Wyverary from The Fairyland Series
My favorite character of the series is Wyverary A-Through-L. Haven't heard of a wyverary before? Well, it's a Wyvern and... "My father was a Library. So properly speaking, I am a Lyvern, or ... a Libern? A Wyverary? I am still trying to find the best term." I laughed so much when this character was introduced, and he stole my heart!
Three illustrations that set the scene:
Illustration from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The lone lantern, the foreboding trees, Mr. Tumnus' glance backwards with little Lucy huddle under his umbrella... This scene is so vivid in my mind, and I adore the illustration accompanying it. I like the details that are shown, but I love the feeling it evokes even more.
Illustration from The Harry Potter Series
How to choose a favorite illustration from Harry Potter? It's an impossible task. I absolutely love Mary GrandPre's work. I almost picked one of Harry looking into the Mirror of Erised but decided at the last minute that I had to choose the one that started it all. That baby has no idea what adventures await him!
Illustration from Alice in Wonderland
The illustrations in Alice in Wonderland are so much fun, but this one has always been my favorite. I love the big, bellowing Queen of Hearts! This is a full-page illustration, so you're missing some of the detail in the small version I'm showing here, but it's such a memorable scene in the book and this really brings it to life!
And my favorite from Fairyland:
Illustration from The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
It only took me a moment to pick my favorite illustration from Fairyland! While there were so many interesting ones, this is what sticks out in my mind: September meeting Wyverary A-Through-L for the very first time! What a momentous occasion... and the introduction of my favorite character!
Do you have any favorite fantasy words?
What about your favorite illustrations?
What a super fun post! I wish supercalifragalisticexpealadocious was technically a fantasy word but it's still one of my favorite made up ones! And I love all the candy bar names in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, they always make me smile. Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight!
ReplyDelete"It's leviohhh-sah, not levioh-sahhh." One of my favorite parts, in the book and in the movie! It's so perfect! Again, I like the candy names (Fizzing Whizzbees and whatnot) and the spells. There's something delightful about a made up word. Alice in Wonderland is full of them, I need to read that again! Frabjous is pretty hilarious.
And the illustrations you picked are so dear! I need to put Fairyland higher on my reading list, it looks whimsical and odd, which are two things I love.