In the magical world of the meadow, the flowers bloom, the insects buzz, and the butterflies roam free. The plants and animals live together in harmony, with help from a curious and ecologically-minded girl named Willa. But the beauty of nature has other battles to fight, and Willa discovers that sometimes Mother Nature sends help to protect the meadow-in the form of very enchanting and wonderful little fairies. Velma Begley's The Way of the Meadow is a look into our ecosystem, and what can happen when man and nature collide. With a poetic voice, Begley crafts a world both true and fabled, where conservation is an effort all readers can appreciate. "Velma Ann Begley has taken the knowledge she has gained from years of studying nature and teaching children to write an enchanting story of a girl, a group of fairies and a meadow.…The [illustrations] and text paint a world where the boundary between the imagined and the real disappear. The fairies and the child work together, but it is not the imaginary world of a time long ago or an altered universe. It is right here and now where a development nearby infiltrates the peaceful meadow and we can only hope for a good outcome…. It is wonderful to think that there may be hundreds of budding "Willa's" out there who are young enough to believe and old enough to make a difference in the world who will be inspired by Begley's book, The Way of the Meadow." -Ted Hirsch, K-6 Principal, South Shore Charter Public School Click below to read an interview with Velma Ann Begley: http://cohasset.wickedlocal.com/article/20151006/NEWS/151008562