• Age: 5 to 8
• Grade: k to 3

It will be Miranda's birthday soon. This year she doesn't want a bowling party. She doesn't want a swimming party either. No, this time Miranda's midsummer birthday is going to be different. She wants an evening garden party. Just the garden and her friends...and the fairies. Although her older brother is amused, and her mother warns her that the fairies may not show, Miranda doesn't care. She knows the fairies are there, hiding or sleeping by day, ready to appear at twilight. And because the fairies love parties just as much as she does, all Miranda has to do is invite them-politely-to join in.

Is there really magic in Miranda's garden? It doesn't matter if no one else believes in fairies. On this enchanted midsummer's eve, one little girl's faith should be more than enough.

Nancy Hundal's lyrical voice is fully realized in this beautiful tribute to the magic of childhood. The gentle, warm and colorful images by Don Kilby are a perfect complement to the text.

Nancy Hundal has previously published ten picture books with HarperCollins, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, and Midtown Press. Oolichan Press published her middle-grade novel Kaleidoscopes and Butterfly Dreams , in 2009, and she self-published a YA novel, Song Angel, in 2018. Many of her books have been nominated for the BC Chocolate Lily Award, and the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year. Her first picture book, I Heard My Mother Call My Name, won the BC Book Prize in 1991.

Hundal has recently retired from a thirty-seven year career as a teacher-librarian in Vancouver, BC. This manuscript, which is about diversity, is the result of watching many students try to be the best friend they could be, even in challenging situations.

Hundal identifies as disabled, as she is deaf but able to hear almost normally with the help of a cochlear implant. See her website: nancyhundal.com

Nancy Hundal's profile page

"Miranda knows exactly how she wants to celebrate her mid-summer birthday. No bowling, no pin-the-tail-on-the donkey, no hotdogs. Instead, she wants an evening party with shimmery lights, sandwiches, cake, lemonade, friends and the fairies who lives at the bottom of the garden. Vancouver writer Nancy Hundal waits till the end to reveal that this particular party happened a long time ago. Don Kilby's illustrations are saturated with colour, against which the fairies flash silver."
— The Vancouver Sun

"This is a perfect summer-holiday story, taking place as it does in a garden on mid-summer's eve. Don Kilby's lush illustrations cleverly include fairies hidden among leaves and stems sleeping by day and playing by night. I enjoyed the magical feel of the story, which was well complemented by the muted colours of Kilby's twilight garden. This book would make an excellent birthday present for girls aged 4 to 7."
— ResourceLinks

"Older children will like the fairy-tale feel of the book and may want to have their own evening garden party. Recommended for elementary libraries."
— Lorgnette, Heart of Texas Literature Center