Foodie Friday: What do faeries eat?

Two friends, torn apart. Soli and Lucy argue, and then Lucy disappears, taken by the faeries who live in the forest near their homes. Can Soli save her friend, even if it means facing the biggest dangers she's ever experienced and going up against the Willow Queen?

You might remember back in October when Art Director Kay Fraser wrote about Faerieground, a new series filled with gorgeous art, intriguing stories, and the mysterious world of faeries. The series is co-authored by two of our own, Kay and Beth Bracken, and it has been fun to watch it develop from a strong initial idea to an absolutely beautiful finished product.

Faerieground is the inspiration behind this week's Foodie Friday post. I took an informal poll and got all sorts of ideas about what faeries, or fairies, eat. According to experts ages two to teenage (plus one 22 year old), this is what they eat:

Belle: pumpkins from a garden
Kathryn: peas, cherries, and water
Amelia: strawberries
Nolan: leaves (actually lots of boys figured they eat leaves)
Taylor: cake!
Jacob: leaves
Sam: rabbits (Mom guesses that Sam believes in slightly vicious fairies!)
Izzy: glitter (she is definitely on to something here)
Kaleb: stars (isn't that magical?)
Quinn: Cherrios
Anna: flowers
Sophie: nectar from flowers
Luke: more leaves!
Kenedy: fruit
Jaimie, our 22-year-old: Pixie Stix (of course!)
Hannah: leaves
Eliot: pizza
Owen: breadsticks (I would like to be a fairy at Eliot and Owen's house)
Benny: grass (the perfect side to all those leaves
Emma: teeth and marshmallows (fairies must like both squishy and crunchy foods!)
Ashley: candy
Baylie: fruit

Kaleb and Quinn's mom had lots to say about what faeries like to eat. (She got some help from the Faery Hunters.) They love naturally sweetened foods, nothing artificial. Honey cakes, honey milk, sweet butter...yum! Legend has it that if you set out some of their favorite foods, they cannot resist. It might look like they haven't touched it, but faeries are magical: They can gain nourishment from the food's "essence."