I've read almost all of Brian Froud's illustrated books, and yet each one is a new revelation of the Faerie Folk. This book is a direct interaction with the fey, as Brian and Wendy Froud play court illustrators to the faeries through the storytelling medium of the Dusters. As the Dusters go about their business cleaning up the minds of humans they come across stories of the faeries in human memories, so they collect the memories to retell the faerie courts so that they remember their own stories. Once the fey remember who they are certain members will sit for the Frouds (whom the faerie call "the Two") to have their portrait and story more accurately collected so that humans don't forget them. Because of this frame story structure, we get mostly formal portrait style illustrations from Froud with some of his signature random layouts and a few 3D tableaus that are the creation of Wendy Froud. This isn't my favourite style of his books, but the quality of artwook is equally intricate and Proud definitely brings each character to life on the page. In sojme ways this book is Froud's attempt at traditional portraiture (in his own style, of course), but the insertion of Wendy's 3D puppetry and maquettes, the addition of 3D art pieces, and the randomly included sketches keep the book from becoming staid - all in typical Froud fashion, which refuses to be truely orderly. When we compare this book to some of Froud's earlier publications (dominated by the inimitable Lady Cottington series) we can definitely see a maturing in subject matter, even if his technical skills and overall themes remain par for the course. I will of course never stop wanting more of Froud's humorous faerie style, but I equally appreciate his delving into more serious styles of art to bring us new perspectives on his faerie friends! ( )