Helliwell is from Vancouver, British Columbia but spent a summer in Ireland during which a leprechaun becomes her friend. ( )

I enjoyed Summer with the Leprechauns: the authorized edition, on many levels- it read a like a fairytale come to life (or maybe that should be leprechaun tale), full of drama, darkness mixed with humor, and deeper meanings to the unfolding story when I stepped back and digested it. It was as if some of my own story was being told. I especially liked meeting the leprechaun and getting his perspective on humans, and how we really are silly beings sometimes. I have an appreciation now of how the elementals support our world and feel more of a sense of co-creation with nature. I can see how my own garden responds to love and attention, just as all beings do.

This book really opened my spirit to the elementals and the "unseen" in our world. I felt as if parts of me were seeing a larger picture and I experienced my senses more in depth as I read about the various elementals and ways of connecting with the many layers of our universe.

The book is written in a lively narrative style that has you following the author from her decision to go to Ireland, to meeting The Leprechaun, to meeting the locals and her experiences with the land and the other elementals. It pulls you along because you want to know what happens next.

You will also find yourself, or at least I did, stopping to ponder and take in what she tells you about her experiences with those leprechauns and other beings, and how they interact with our world. With an open mind, you will be seeing the world in a different way by the end of the book, and perhaps looking to meet you own elemental.

A book to be re-read and shared. ( )