From the creator of W.I.T.C.H.
a dazzling world of fantasy and adventure
A wonderful fairy tale bursting with joy and enchantment

THE FAIRY OAK BIBLIOTHECA

The Twins’ Secret

The extraordinary adventure of two little girls whose love is stronger than any power
Genre: Fantasy Novel
Pages: 277+ 2 sixteenmo in colour
Author: Elisabetta Gnone
Producer: Bombus
Publisher: Salani
Age level: 9 and up
The Twins’ Secret
In an ancient magical village, which is hidden in the depths of a timeless past and which has grown up around Oak, the great talking tree from whom the village takes its name, a fairy, a witch and two children experienced the most exciting of adventures.
In Fairy Oak the Magicals of the Light, with creative, life-enhancing powers, and those of the Dark, restless and mysterious, who possess the absolute power of destruction and death, have forged an alliance. The two factions are not in opposition, but complementary and indivisible, like day and night. The fact remains, however, that Magicals of the Dark are by nature more inclined to the dark forces and perhaps even to evil. The Magicals live in harmony with the Nonmagicals, so much so that it’s difficult to tell one from the other. Fairies, wizards, witches and ordinary citizens have been living in those stone houses for so long that no one notices their mutual oddities any longer. And certainly, they all resemble one another! Apart from the fairies, who are very, very tiny, and luminous. The witches and wizards of the valley call them in to act as nannies for the young ones of the village and this enchanted story is narrated by one of them, the young fairy Telli. Telli is summoned by the witch Lilac Tomelilla to act as fairy nanny to her two nieces, Lavender and Vanilla, daughters of her sister Dahlia and Cicero Periwinkle. For Telli, for whom this is her first job, this is definitely a great honour: Tomelilla is the wisest and most honourable witch of all time and the little fairy certainly could never imagine the adventure that was in store for her!
As her story unfolds, we soon realize that she is charged with the difficult task of protecting the twins.
Lavender and Vanilla are born on the same day, but twelve hours apart.
This is the first obstacle: the law of the Witchlike Code states that twins cannot inherit magical powers from their uncles or aunts, as other children can. But perhaps, twelve hours represents an exception. Tomelilla and Telli really count on this and for years Telli is asked to keep a close eye on the girls every moment of the day and then make her report during the “Fairy Tale”. This is what the fairies call midnight, because at that hour they join their witches to inform them about their nephews’ and nieces’ day.
The years go by, the twins grow and begin to show profound differences in character, even though, curiously, they do not seem to manifest any magic powers, until one day Tomelilla is rewarded. But in terrible circumstances! On the very same day in which the girls reveal their powers, an old enemy falls on the plain of Greenvale. This is the Terrible 21st, so called because he always attacks on the 21st of June, the day of the summer solstice. And he is evil personified, even though he is not a person: no one has ever seen him, but everyone knows that he is determined to destroy all that is beautiful and joyful in the world.
Twenty-one years had gone by since the Terrible 21st’s last attack on Fairy Oak. Why has he returned now? The entire Periwinkle family is attacked and, in defending themselves, the twins react as witches, but with a “small” difference. Vanilla shows that she is an exceptional Witch of the Light, like all her ancestors. And Lavender is the first Witch of the Dark in the family. Not that this makes any difference to Tomelilla, but it’s certainly strange.
While the Supreme Assembly of the Magicals meets to decide how to face the Terrible 21st, life in the village goes on. And Vanilla and Lavender learn to defend themselves and to keep well clear of dark places. They do this in the company of magical friends such as Flox Pollimon, the Witch of the Dark with a sunny, joyous personality; Grisam Burdock, the good looking, kindly wizard who both of the girls fall in love with; Cherry Spleenwort, an unbearable gossip and the Mayor’s daughter; and Shirley Poppy, the most magical, fascinating and mysterious girl that the twins had ever met. They, together with Lilac Tomelilla and Grisam’s uncle Duff Burdock, a powerful and generous wizard, save the village from a new attack launched by the Terrible 21st but on that occasion the citizens of Fairy Oak will discover that the war has only just begun...

The Dark Enchantment

The second chapter of the Trilogy
Genre: Fantasy Novel
Pages: 344 + 2 sixteenmo in colour
Author: Elisabetta Gnone
Producer: Bombus
Publisher: Salani
Age level: 9 and up
The Dark Enchantment
In Fairy Oak the time of peace seems destined to end, because the old Enemy has returned to seek revenge and not only that.
The Lord of the Dark wants to rule the world in the shadows and to do this he has to destroy the other half of magical power: the Light.
In the 2nd chapter of the trilogy, the Enemy besieges Fairy Oak. The defence of the village is entrusted to the Magicals, who in the past have already succeeded in driving the Enemy out, but he manages to infiltrate their ranks and the Ancient Alliance begins to waver.
Hope is in the young hands of Vanilla and Lavender, the twin witches and a living symbol of the ancient alliance: Light and Dark in the same kin: “two sides of a coin that should not exist”.
It is this bond that the Enemy tries to sever with his axe.
Like day and night, equal and opposite, Light and Dark are believed to be inseparable and both necessary, their incessant alternating keeps the worlds wheel in motion and allows life to regenerate itself.
To destroy this all, the Terrible 21st must separate the twins, pit one against the other, break the Alliance, only in this way he will be able to win and you can bet he’ll do his worst to succeed.
A long, dangerous journey waits then for the girls, deep into the labyrinth of their own powers, the one that creates and the other that destroys. A long journey deep inside their hearts and against all odds.
At the end of it, when eventually everything seems lost and darkness already cloaks the valley, the twins understand their mission and by casting the most spectacular spell they save their world and people from the old Enemy. But they wont do all this by themselves!
Four elements will become their precious allies: friendship, trust, history and love.
Unfolds like this, among countless adventures Telli’s tale, the luminous fairy whose difficult task is to protect the twin witches of Fairy Oak.

The Power of the Light

The third chapter of the Trilogy
Genre: Fantasy Novel
Pages: 375 + 2 sixteenmo in colour
Author: Elisabetta Gnone
Producer: Bombus
Publisher: Salani
Age level: 9 and up
The Power of the Light
Winter falls on the village of the Enchanted Oak, an early winter that freezes the roses in bloom and the whole valley is soon covered by a blanket of snow.
The harmony and the serenity that used to characterize the charming village are distant memories, yet that white gleam instils hope in the hearts of Telli and Tomelilla.
The citizens of Fairy Oak, returned from a terrifying battle, fear for their lives and mistrust everything and everybody. Above all, they now mistrust young Lavender: her strange disappearance during the last attack and her unusual return afterwards, lead the citizens to think that she has gone over to the Enemy’s side and now they believe that she is his agent.
Can this really be true? Vanilla still has blind faith in her sister. Yet her love no longer seems enough for Lavender, who, segregated and openly pointed at by almost everyone, escapes once more.
Desperate, Vanilla leaves the village to track her down and it is only thanks to the intervention of Telli and the courageous Grisam that she isn’t kidnapped by the macabre emissaries of the Enemy.
Only one chance remains, to ask Captain Talbot for the Second Ancient Chronicle, in which, Heather is sure, they will discover Lavender’s secret.
Nonetheless, another bitter surprise is in store for Vanilla and her friends. On the night they go to the Captain’s to ask him for the “book”, they find him dead. Serenely in his own bed.
A solemn funeral accompanies the old seaman to his last resting place and on that occasion the youngsters of Fairy Oak rally round Vanilla and with her they form a compact, tight-knit Band. They will help her to find Lavender again at all costs and they will do everything in their power to defend the village from the Enemy. And that’s exactly what they do.
A few days before the 21st of December the village is attacked and Oak, the heart of the ancient community, is obliged to flee. The children help him get him to safety. Even though afterwards he disappears… That same day, Vanilla will meet someone who will change her life and that of the village, and make her heart beat hard. The night of the 21st of December, the day of the winter solstice, has come and, as predicted by Tomelilla and Duff Burdock, the Terrible 21st once more falls on Fairy Oak, but this time he has a good two secret weapons. The first of these leaves the citizens, already weary and frightened, completely disarmed; the second has them on their knees.
Among the ranks of the armies of the Terrible 21st, Heather – and not only she – spots her sister advancing solemnly and severely astride a black charger.
So it was true, the Ancient Alliance had really been broken, Light and Dark facing each other on opposite sides as they had done in the past. But is this really the case?
The answer lies in Vanilla’s heart. What will happen depends entirely on her.

Love and Captain Grisam

A Tale of the Sea, Intrepid Youngsters and Love
Genre: Fantasy Novel
Pages:
Author: Elisabetta Gnone
Producer: Bombus
Publisher: Salani
Age level: 9 and up
Love and Captain Grisam
In a secret cave, hidden among the frozen waterfalls of winter, five young friends open an old sea chest and set free a story that had been locked away and forgotten for many years, deliberately forgotten!
A mystery surrounds the man who said he had been a valiant commander, and it’s up to Vanilla and Lavender, the young wizard Grisam, comical Flox, and the entire Captain’s Band to discover the truth about William Talbot.
A few clues, unexpected discoveries and laconic memories will help the youngsters to put together the pieces of a buried past that at times appears obscure and even frightening.
Yet, the image that is slowly reassembled before the astonished eyes of the twins and their companions, the one that emerges from the fog of mystery, seems to have the eyes and the smile of love.
Who was the Captain, really? And to whom was he returning when his ship was wrecked off the shores of the enchanted village? And why is it that since the chest was opened everyone seems to have a love story to tell?
The ending is a happy one, but not without surprises and one above all will make Heather’s heart beat hard.

Shirley’s Enchanting Days

A tale of sublime spells and amazing adventures
Genre: Fantasy Novel
Pages:
Author: Elisabetta Gnone
Producer: Bombus
Publisher: Salani
Age level: 9 and up
Shirley’s Enchanting Days
Spring has come to Fairy Oak.
The air is scented with narcissus, and games fill the long days. The gardens of the village are in bloom and the sight is a breathtaking one. But the rain is coming. And in fact it pours down, it even hails! For long, endless days. A good job Shirley Poppy is there to hearten the youngsters of the village, with a new, complicated mystery.
It all begins on the day when Lavender, to take Vanilla’s mind off Jim – who has not been heard of for over two months – organizes a trip to Woodsend. The vivacious Witch of the Dark is sure this will please her sister because at Woodsend fun is guaranteed: Shirley is their best friend, together with Flox, and knows mysterious, enchanted places and how to cast amazing spells. A surreal and amusing day awaits them, La is absolutely positive about that. But what she doesn’t know is that that day will only be the first of a long series.
Shirley has found a very, very strange recipe book hidden in her aunt’s sewing room. Its creased old pages make no mention of eggs or flour, but of swords made of salt, pieces of sky, hearts of stone and a secret, the Secret of the Wood!
Determined to get to the bottom of it all, Shirley involves the twins Vanilla and Lavender and all the Captain’s Band in a series of amazing adventures.
It will be dangerous, the children know that, but what they will see and learn will repay them for every wound and fear. Forever.

Flox Smiles in Autumn

A Tale of Friendship, Bizarre Dances and Colours
Genre: Fantasy Novel
Pages: 375 + 2 sedicesimi a colori
Author: Elisabetta Gnone
Producer: Bombus
Publisher: Salani
Age level: 9 and up
Flox Smiles in Autumn
“I would have made them laugh because the third story was amusing and now that they knew the characters they would have laughed even more on imagining them as they danced the Dance of the Follies of the Season. On the third evening I talked about this, and about friendship…”
It always happens this way, one September day, someone does something odder than the usual oddities, and from that moment on, for a month and sometimes two, normality is banned from Fairy Oak. They call it “The Dance of the Follies of the Season”.
What happens on those days is hilarious and beautiful, because everyone really seems to give of their best as far as concerns imagination, power, skill and… eccentricity.
Even the trees join in the fun, and the whole Valley seems bewitched.
And Flox has a theory about this: all you have to do is look in the eyes of the dancers to understand that… But, let’s leave it to Flox, the rainbow girl - and La and Baboo’s best friend - to reveal this mystery.
This story is dedicated to her and to friendship, the kind that - wherever you turn – it’s right in front of you. And sometimes it leaves bruises, not only on the skin either.

Farewell to Fairy Oak

A Lighthearted, Moving Story of a Magical Encounter and a heartbreaking farewell. Of this and of my life in Fairy Oak I told my companions on the last evening
Genre: Fantasy Novel
Pages: 375 + 2 sedicesimi a colori
Author: Elisabetta Gnone
Producer: Bombus
Publisher: Salani
Age level: 9 and up
Farewell to Fairy Oak
Telli has gone back home.
In the fifteen years she has spent far away, she always wrote to her companions at home, describing the village, the girls, and all the incredible adventures she had had with them and their fantastic friends. So much so that now the fairies want to know more, they want her to tell them again, in fact, they don’t her to stop, ever! They ask for new stories, new anecdotes, to know all about the village of the Enchanted Oak and its inhabitants.
Telli gladly agrees and promises four new stories: they will allow her to stay in the company of her memories and to live those wonderful days again.
Yes, but for how much longer? Sooner or later she will have to put the past aside and face the future.
She knows this, and now, with only one story left, she feels her heart beating hard: will she manage to say farewell to Fairy Oak?