For all that I found the dialogue crisp and well written. The tale of Good triumphing over Evil in a war between the haves and have nots is always a winner in my opinion; especially if there is a child involved. I do feel though that it could benefit from some editing in the fairy department. While I realise that the author had a tale to tell and fairies were the device he chose; it got to the stage where I was thinking, “Oh no, not Nesbit and her lot again”.  I did enjoyed the rhyming which made up for a great deal of confusion caused by the frantic activity of birds, fairies elves and others rushing about whilly nilly.

While on the subject of confusion; while I realise that this is a proof copy and there will be more clarity in the first print, I found the illustrations rather annoying. For me there is simply too much detail in most of them. These too were filled with Australiana – for those who have the time and patience to find it. In this case perhaps the principle of less is more should be applied.

I think this tale can be summed up in the words of the author himself – “Just follow your nose,your ears and your eyes, And wherever you go, you’ll find a surprise.”

Review by J. Christine Goyen

In this beautifully written whimsical book, 6 ½ year old Barry is sent off during school holidays in 1957 to live with his Nan and Pop in West Preston, Victoria, while his parents await the arrival of his new brother or sister.
With Pop’s increasingly deteriorating “smoking health”, he retreats to his backyard shed for some peace and quiet while Nan busies herself in the kitchen. It is only when Barry is shooed outside to play, and a golf ball ends up in the roses that he discovers the magical fairies of Fairyland; a long kept hidden secret of Nan’s that she hopes Barry will discover too!

Even now at almost 49, Barry thinks of the fairies:

“I want friends like Nesbit Queen of the Fairies, Meh, Neh and all the crows and maggies too!”

What was “the secret?” What would Barry experience and see?

Barry took the oath  “to swear to never to do fairies any harm?”

“I do.” he said.

Then with a touch of the Diminishing Pole that hummed, Barry was the fairies’ size, which FASCINATED ME too!!! Then the reader gets sidetracked in the story by Barry’s fairy flittering, fluttering, learning how to fly and mastering invisibility.

As Barry continues daily to have fun, Pop’s life is done. Barry’s dad (Pop’s son) comes to clean out the shed and look for the missing deed to his parent’s house. What has happened to it? Where can it be?

So off to the deed office Barry’s Dad and his sister go. When they return home, they have nothing to show. Seems Pop had a bit of a silent gambling problem of sorts, which is uncovered after his death. One could almost hear Nan saying, “Please make it not true that’s he’s lost the house gambling”, but only under her breath.

Introduced within the story are unsavoury characters, causing mischief and damage in Pop’s and Nan’s neighbourhood. Frightened and bewildered, slowly the neighbour’s are forced to sell their houses for cheap and move away. But it won’t continue if Nan and Nesbit Queen of the Fairies have THEIR own way! So they devise a plan to conquer evil and save Nan and Pop’s house – but don’t want to reveal too many secrets!

I revelled in Barry’s fairy adventures and when I closed my eyes, I could imagine myself with him and his fairy friends forever and a day! LOVED the Story of the Story Tree! Shhhhhh, I now KNOW the secret and when reading Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street, SO will thee! WISH we all had a Magic seed to plant in our own garden one day! The story was a great reminder of how a child’s imagination is all about play!

In my opinion, bureaucracy sometimes becomes difficult when people pass away. For me, it was a good reminder to place all important documents in one place and express to your loved ones what the deceased WANTS to say!

I would LOVE this book to be transformed into a movie and the first to purchase tickets WOULD be ME!!! Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and for Barry, it was the end of his stay with Nan, but with any adventure, real or imaginary, they say one has to leave in order to return one day!

Hear! Hear! To Nesbit and Fairyland fun! I almost wished this book didn’t end and my fairy adventures could continue.

Review by Joanne T. Ferguson

After receiving Barry and The Fairies of Miller Street by Barry Dickins and Jenny Lee I wasn’t all together sure about what I could expect to find. While a departure from my traditional genre choice, I was pleasantly surprised by the tale of love and good old Aussie spirit I found within.

It didn’t take long for the lives of Barry, his nan, Queen Nesbit and her friends as well as the veritable villains of the piece to draw me in. The tale felt quite childlike which was somewhat appealing, and it was an easy read – one which you could let yourself be drawn in and carried away.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the illustrations, it probably pushed past what I would consider an adult novel. Because of the way the story was written, and the old adage of good triumphing over evil, along with a few fairies for good measure, I would recommend the book for young adults right through to the most seasoned of all readers.

While it may be a tad predictable, the heart-warming story won out over any perceived shortfalls. Well worth a read!

Review by Stacey Gladman.

One part The Castle, one part The Magic Faraway Tree, and three parts fantastical fun – Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street receives a full five out of five and can be sent straight to the Kerrigan family pool room.

I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the 1997 Australian comedy film The Castle when reading this book. The voices of the central characters were so ocker Aussie that I imagined them all with a Michael Caton inflection.

From the charming turns-of-phrase such as “my oath” and “his nibs”, to the plot of the everyday townsfolk standing up against evil urban developers – even Pop’s over-crowded shed could have all been a precursor for the Kerrigans.

But Dickins seems to have also drawn heavily from Enid Blyton, with Gert and Barry’s adventures into the back of his suburban yard and into the boughs of the Story Tree.

This book has a lot of heart and is very charming. I defy anyone not to love Barry’s innocence, or to cheer for Gert with gusto. However, for me, the fictional elements of the story detracted from its autobiography.

The fairies were a whole lot of fun. I outwardly giggled at their cheekiness, clever wordplay, and smatterings of fairy facts. But whenever Barry disappeared into fairyland, I wished that he would stay back and eavesdrop on an adult conversation or two.

By writing the book entirely from Barry’s innocent perspective, without any benefit of adult reflection or hindsight, I felt that some key elements of the story were sorely missed. If only the all-seeing, all-knowing fairies answered some of the questions that Barry couldn’t: Why was it necessary for him to spend his holidays at Miller Street? Why was it only his Dad that came to visit? Were the interludes with the fairies Barry Dickins’ way of shying away from presenting all the facts of his childhood, and avoiding an unpleasant rendezvous with his memories?

This book offers some sweet nostalgia, blended with no-nonsense Aussie fun – in all it’s a story about love, family, imagination, and the power of community spirit. The intricate drawings are also a delight – they are quizzical and scrawling and so detailed that it’s like decoding a secret message before each chapter. No matter how many times you look, you always find something new.

Review by Danielle Roddick. Read Danielle’s blog here

West Preston, 1957, the days of payphones and pounds, and six-year-old Barry Dickins is spending his remaining school holidays with his Nan and Pop. But Barry’s button-down world is about to change. Embroiled in a battle to save a suburb and a way of life from wicked developers, Barry is joined by an entourage of faithful fairies who take on a gang of evil ‘bodgies’ and their corrupt adult cohorts.

This reflection on a mid 20th century childhood in the Melbourne suburbs is no ordinary coming-of-age tale. Open-minded readers are rewarded with an autographically inspired fantasy filled with action and adventure. Cynics may need to suspend their disbelief, but one is swept up into the story quickly enough to no longer worry where fact ends and fiction begins.

Like any relatives, the extended Dickins clan endure standard family tensions, but jibes between characters are delivered with authenticity and recounted with astute perspective from young Barry. Key events conjure emotion without drawing on excessive sentimentality, and are told using an unpretentious style that sets the reader at ease. However, dialogue is littered with colloquialisms such as “jarmies” and “Joe Blakes”, which will click with some readers but may need decoding by others.

While the book’s blending of genres is in itself unique, the sweet illustrations by co-author Barry Dickins that open and close each chapter are another point of difference. Depictions of Nan, Pop, Aunt Bessie, Barry and the fairies are mingled with iconic Australian ephemera: meat pies, mugs of Milo, Sherrin footballs or a West Preston bound tram. It’s a nice touch that neatly weaves in with the narrative.

Fluctuating between comical and heartfelt, Barry Dickins and Jenny Lee successfully tackle typically adult issues such as death and capitalism with a childlike energy and sense of wonderment. Aussies raised in the ‘50s will particularly enjoy the chance for nostalgic revelry; but any reader who enjoys a ‘right outs wrong’ tale will equally engage with Barry Dickins and the Fairies of Miller Street. It’s a stirring read told by an endearing protagonist with a true-blue sense of community spirit.

Review by Melisa Gray-Ward. Melisa writes about books and reading on her blog Love on the Run.

A strange mix of memoir come fantasy come boys own adventure, this story really shouldn’t work but somehow it does.

Starting out as a simple enough tale, it’s 1957 and a boy is sent off to stay with his grandparents in West Preston, things soon take a twist with the introduction of fairies in the backyard, bodgies and villains causing strife, evil intentions all around and six year old Barry and his Nan banding together to take the villains on. It’s like Enid Blyton meets Dan Dare, the Magic Faraway Tree set in down town Preston Victoria with a touch of small town corruption thrown in but strangely it all works.

At first I admit I was waiting for it all to be imagination, a young lad’s way of coping with his loneliness but soon enough I no longer cared what the reality was, I was drawn in, I was coaxed on by the boy within me who remembered his own fantasy life as a child, roaming the forests of country SA, looking for evil to conquer and maidens to rescue. With Jenny Lee’s wonderfully detailed and magical illustrations adding another layer to the adventure I succumbed to my inner child and cheered Barry and his Nan and the fairies on to victory.

Beautifully crafted and put together, the voice of young Barry rings true throughout and when the fairies are introduced so simply and logically you soon just accept that they are there, that they are part of the story and not a figment of his or his Nan’s imaginations. It’s in the details Dickins provides, the little moments of eggs on toast, of Pop’s shed and kicking the footy in the yard, the simple pleasures of making a newspaper kite, it’s these touches, these simple things, all adding to the story, to the aura of authenticity that Barry’s voice as narrator provides.

I’m still not sure who the actual market is for this book, a boys own adventure that features a fairy queen, a bunch of evil crows, crooked property developers and shrinking Nannas but even without vampires and zombies, I’m sure kids will love it, if they can just put their ipods and phones down long enough to let themselves slip into Barry’s world. And adults of a certain age will find themselves, as I did, remembering their youth, the adventures and the freedom of childhood.

Review by Campbell McInnes.

Related articles

• Introducing Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street by Barry Dickins and Jenny Lee (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)
• Review: Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street | Sonia Nair (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)
• Review: Barry and the Fairies | Kirsty Kearney (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)
• Review: Barry and the Fairies | Jo Canham (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)

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• Introducing Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street by Barry Dickins and Jenny Lee (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)
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• Review: Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street | Sonia Nair (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)
• Review: Barry and the Fairies | Maryanne Hyde (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)

Barry Dickins and Jenny Lee have written an endearing tale about one boy’s adventures through the ‘Hump of West Preston’.

As a child brought up in the north and west of Melbourne, I jumped at the opportunity to read and review a novel set in such wistful and distinguishing territory.

When I was younger, my brother, my grandmother and I would venture to the Heidelberg Mall on Bell Street. Just like Barry, once we had finished the business end of our excursion, my grandmother would let us choose a small token to take home. Now, I still reside in the North, and frequently catch the 112West Prestontram, despite its shortcomings.

Dickins and Lee are wonderful storytellers. The detailed descriptions in Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street not only capture the essence of the North, but also illustrate the pleasures of growing up in suburbia, bounded by family, companionship and community. The descriptive language, from the hot cooked breakfasts of poached eggs, toNan’s fawn scuffs and Kool Mints, paints a vivid and honest picture of the environment Barry occupies.

A charming tale of good conquering evil and the kinship of community rising to conquer corporate greed and corruption, Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street is a comfort and an absolute joy. This fanciful story will not only strike a chord with the young adult audience, but also with readers, such as myself, who are keen to reminisce about their own experiences in this characteristic part of Melbourne.

Review by Ilona Nicola. Like Ilona’s writing? Check out her blog at ilonanicola.wordpress.com 

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• Introducing Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street by Barry Dickins and Jenny Lee (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)
• Review: Barry and the Fairies | Kirsty Kearney (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)
• Review: Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street | Sonia Nair (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)
• Review: Barry and the Fairies | Jo Canham (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)

And so begins the tale of Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street. Narrated from the perspective of a young boy who stays at the home of his Nan and Pop over the school holidays, the story is at heart a parable of good versus evil. Far from being reductive however, the narrative is enlivened by whimsical poems, colourful colloquialisms and the infantile yet revealing observations of Barry as he lives amongst his Nan and Pop, his Aunt Bess, the neighbouring residents of Miller Street and the fairies Barry stumbles upon early in the story.

Though the story is pieced together through the musings of a young, school-going boy – the more adult themes of love and loss, corruption and greed as well as displacement pervade throughout. The themes are narrated from a culmination of Barry’s own thoughts and his simple yet candid accounts of the interactions that take place around him.

Regular mention of Melbourne-centered landmarks from the trams, the Preston bus and High Street to hallmarks of Australian culture such as radio station 3AW (that Nan regularly listens to) and footy (that young Barry is fixated with) form a powerful descriptive tool which both shape the narrative and lend familiarity to the story as it unfolds.

Unlike other fantasy novels – such as the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or The NeverEnding Story that plunge into a magical world without revisiting reality until the very end, or not at all in the case of the latter – Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street jumps back and forth between a fairy-inhabited wonderland and the more grounded, daily routine at Barry’s grandparents’ abode.

The constant juxtaposition between the two worlds emboldens the story and paints a poignant contrast between the fairyland and the human world. Although the fairyland is replete with mystifying magic and a joyful zest for life – and could be thought of as an anti-thesis to the human world – its very existence hinges upon variables in the human world. Constant intermingling between characters in the two worlds obscures traditional barriers between both realms.

Although a reader may have a niggling feeling as to what the resolution of the story will be, various turns in the story’s plot leaves the story completely open to an unpredictable ending.

All in all, Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street is moving in its depiction of the different shades of human behaviour, narrated in lyrical prose and Australian-isms that pepper the story throughout.

Review by Sonia Nair.

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• Review: Barry and the Fairies | Jo Canham (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)
• Review: Barry and the Fairies | Maryanne Hyde (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)

Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street is a complete treasure of a book with a unique recipe. Take a heap of spirit and combine with genuinely written, full-bodied, wonderfully flawed characters. Add intrigue, family drama and a tipple of dastardly villains to keep you flicking through the pages. Stir in keen observational humour and adventure, then finish with a generous dash of fairy dust and bake till heart-warming. Can’t you just imagine the recipe tucked away into one of Nan’s cookbooks, sitting pride of place on her kitchen shelf at 22 Miller Street?

It is best not to know too much about this book before reading it, but know that it is a treat for readers of all ages, especially those that still believe in fairies. Even non-believers will be entertained by the ‘real-world’ aspect of the story, as I myself was tempted at times to skip past the fairies and find out what happens to Nan, Pop and Bess. That’s the sign of a well-written book.

The first few pages of this “autobiographically inspired” story of six-year-old Barry’s suburban and fantastical escapades are puzzling. Although enchanting, they left me wondering – which parts are autobiographical and which parts are fiction? But after finishing, I’ve decided that I would prefer not to know fact from fiction. The magic is in the mystery. Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street is a book for the soul, to remind us of the wonder of childhood and the power of imagination.

Review by Kirsty Kearney. Read Kirsty’s blog here

Related articles

• Introducing Barry and the Fairies of Miller Street by Barry Dickins and Jenny Lee (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)
• Review: Barry and the Fairies | Maryanne Hyde (bookclub.hardiegrant.com.au)