Teddy has always had a vivid imagination. He doesn't mean for it to get him into trouble, and he certainly doesn't want to cause his mother any more grief now that his father is dead. Sometimes, however, Teddy's adventurous nature gets the better of him, and he cannot help himself.
This is how, one day, he manages to find himself in a land of fairies, located just on the other side of an old rusty gate at the edge of his family's backyard. There he meets Essence, a beautiful fairy princess and soon finds himself journeying through her magical forest as the hero whom the fairies have awaited to set their land aright. Naturally it is Teddy's stronger than normal imagination that enables him to conquer the evil powers that have taken possession of the forest. His fairy friends explain that adults lose their ability to use their imagination because they are pre-occupied with too many things. Pre-adolescent Theodore learns that for the sake of the fairies and his family, he must preserve his imaginative powers.
There are no surprises in this story that clearly seeks to encourage children to use less technology and develop their thinking skills. Theodore is an admirable hero who does what is right. (Except of course, when he wanders into the forest against his mother's wishes, but that's how so many children's stories begin.) Children who love fantasy will undoubtedly enjoy the action scenes, but may find the author's overuse of adverbs distracting. A former teacher, Jennifer Minicus is a full-time wife and mother currently living in Ridgewood, NJ.