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Maria B Hayden lives in a beautiful, rather prone to rainfall, part of South West England. She loves writing, children's imaginations, creative play, drawing, painting, her pugs, cats, and fish and just about anything that breathes. Except spiders for some reason.
Maria once wrote a full anthology of poetry twenty years ago, when she was much younger. Sadly it was rejected by every agent probably because at that time it wasn't any good and as a result she took up an alternative career in corporate Retail Buying.
Sometime later, after the arrival of her daughter and as bedtime reading became a nightly ritual, she rekindled her love of poetry and storytelling. Making up magical stories about princesses, supernatural crayons, flutes, dragons, best friends and magic, has lead directly into writing her own children's books.
Her books are focussed and themed around the magic of childhood to foster a healthy imagination; fairies, wishes, mermaids and the occasional dragon story is sure to follow.
You can find out more about Maria and her books on her website http://www.mariabhayden.com.
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
The Fairy Secret: Enchanting Fairytales, Book One is a children's fantasy story written by Maria Hayden and illustrated by Owen Williams. Rosie's best friend was her little pug dog, Puggles. Puggles did everything with her. He knew how to perform tricks of all kinds and loved going out on adventures with her. But there was one thing Puggles refused to take any part in. He hated when she tried to dress him up as a fairy. Rosie had always dreamed of having a fairy friend, so she started thinking seriously about how to make it happen. First, she and Puggles built a fairy ring using a daisy chain made from flowers she found in her backyard. When that didn't work, she decided that constructing a fairy house would be answer -- surely the perfect fairy house would be irresistible to fairies. But that didn't work either. Rosie's mom also didn't have any other ideas on how to invite a fairy to come and stay, but both she and Rosie had an idea of who might know. Would Mrs. Brown be the fairy expert Rosie needs to make the magic happen?
Maria Hayden's fantasy picture book for children, The Fairy Secret: Enchanting Fairytales, Book One, is a charming and delightful story about the efforts of a young girl and her dog to find a fairy friend. This story celebrates the imagination, and we see throughout Rosie's determination to make something happen and her resulting creative efforts. Owen Williams' illustrations are quirky and comical, especially his drawings of Rosie and Puggles, which display a wide range of facial expression that work quite well with the story line. Hayden's verse is fun to read, containing rhymes that flow smoothly and melodically. Does Rosie ever succeed in finding a fairy friend? I'll never tell. It's too much fun getting to the answer to this question, and readers will just have to find out for themselves. I had a lot of fun getting there myself. The Fairy Secret: Enchanting Fairytales, Book One is highly recommended.
