Fairies Quote by Philippa Pearce
““He criss-crossed the kitchen-garden beyond the asparagus beds: fruit trees and strawberry beds and bean poles and a chicken-wire enclosure where raspberry canes and gooseberry bushes and currant bushes lived sheltered from the attack of birds. Beside the gooseberry wire grew a row of rhubarb. Each clump was covered with the end of an old tub or pot drain-pipe with sacking over the top. Between the loose staves of one of the tubends was something white—a piece of paper. It was folded, and addressed in a childish hand—if one could call it an address: ‘To Oberon, King of Fairies.’ Tom certainly did not want to be mixed up with talk of fairies and that kind of thing; and he moved very quickly away from the rhubarb bed.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, 1958
A child creates a whimsical, secret message for a fairy king, showing imagination and the desire to protect innocence.
In simple terms: A child writes a note to a fairy king, hiding it among garden plants.
Key Takeaway
Protect imagination and cherish secret worlds.
Themes
imagination
childhood
secret worlds
Mood
playful
nostalgic
Type
literary
inspirational
When to use this quote
- garden play
- writing secret notes
- protecting imagination
- encouraging creativity
Key Concepts
fantasy
playfulness
creativity
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you keep imagination alive in adulthood?
- What role do secret messages play in your life?
A Different Perspective
May blur lines between reality and fantasy, causing confusion.
![“The children's writer not only makes a satisfactory connection between [the writer's] present maturity and his past childhood, he also does the same for his child-characters in reverse - makes the connection between their present childhood and their future maturity. That their maturity is never…” quote by Philippa Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/afe/philippa-pearce-41771_aging_the-children-s-writer-not-only-makes-a-s_1292815.jpg)
