This week's question is rather light, and ties into my recent reading of Wildwood Dancing and The Various, and my less recent reading of Tithe and Love in Shadow.

(Have I mentioned that I provided Latin names for some of the sprites in Arthur Spiderwick's Care and Feeding of Sprites?  Occasionally, knowing a dead language leads to awesome things.  If Little Willow is your friend, anyway.)

What's the deal with fairies?
Why do these creatures captivate our imaginations so?  I don't know that I've had a day I felt more pleased with myself than at the most recent Ren Faire when little girls kept whispering to their parents "It's a fairy!" when I walked by.  Why did that make me feel so special?  Why are fairy stories written and rewritten in so many different ways?  What makes them so much more present in the collective consciousness than other fantastical creatures?

Last Week's Question:
In what ways do children's and young adult novels shape readers' notions of gender roles?  How can and do they present more options, especially to girl readers, for how to spend a life?

See the original post and Becky's Book Reviews for answers.  It's especially exciting that we received answers from YA authors Lorie Ann Grover and Janet Lee Carey.