Queen Dew-Drop's Forgiveness

The story of Little Bud follows the character Little Bud, who was adopted into a kind family of birds. She later meets a group of fairies who were banished from Fairy-Land. Little Bud is so moved by their homesickness and sorrow for their homeland that she decides to help the fairies return home. Though sweet and whimsical, their journey was not without struggles. From the bleak, dead winters, to the Fairy Queen Dew-Drop’s requirements of them, Little Bud and the three fairies overcome obstacle after obstacle to return happily home.

This spread is placed in the middle of the story, after Little Bud meets the three fairies and begs Queen Dew-Drop for forgiveness so they can return to Fairy Land. The Queen is very moved by Little Bud's empathy for the fairies, and agrees, though with conditions. She requires the fairies to better themselves by performing good deeds and producing for her a perfect fairy robe, wand, and crown. The fairies later do try to perform these tasks, but fail, and ultimately end up sad and miserable, and give up.

I wanted to emphasize this sad feeling that is persistent throughout this part of the story- both from Queen Dew-Drop and from the three fairies. I focused around blue or other muted colors, with a portrait of the queen to highlight her character and her influence on the story as it progresses here. I chose to have her magic frame the text as well as the fairies on the second page to better connect the entire spread.