Daisy Meadows

so this was really cute. I had to read it for a challenge so it was nice to share it as homework with my 8 year old daughter.

although I thought it got a little wordy at weird parts - complete detailed descriptions of what each girl was wearing - it was still cute.

And we loved the letters randomly throughout the book as added fun to enjoy the pictures and spell out a word.

but I refuse to believe that Jack Frost is a bad person :D

and, lol, if only rock stars really had faires to help them. show more Maybe they wouldn't get in so much trouble! show less

I am on a quest to become knowledgeable about children's fantasy literature. And I could never make that claim without reading the hugely popular Daisy Meadows Rainbow Magic series. There are over 200 of them. I read seven, and since they all have the same plot, I feel I have done my duty. I read Bailey the Babysitter Fairy most recently.

Plot of all of them: Rachel and Kirsty, BFFs, must help _____ [insert female name] the ______ [insert noun] Fairy to recover her magic ________[insert item show more type]. The nasty goblins have stolen it! She cannot do her important work without it, which causes lots of problems in the human and fairy worlds. Since this conveniently never occurs on a school day, Rachel and Kirsty cheerfully set to work recovering it. At some point in the story they briefly transform into fairies and there is a chase/action scene. They outsmart the foolish goblins, recover the item. No violence ever occurs. The _____ Fairy is grateful and all is well again. Hurray!

The goblins, who are always male, seem to be based on boys who sit at the back of the classroom making trouble because they are bored. The fairies, always female, are very responsible and kind, as are Rachel and Kirstie. They are always optimistic, never argue, and always strive to do the right thing.

I was puzzled for a while about the fairy's reproductive cycle. At first I thought perhaps that magical cloning is involved. But now I lean toward a theory that fairies and gnomes are actually the same species. I suspect they are similar to social insects, such as honeybees. There's a queen/mother, some male drones that get in the way (aka goblins), and a bunch of helpful female worker bees (aka fairies). There is also a fairy king and a couple of princes. I don't know how they fit in. Maybe, when a goblin and a fairy fall in love, he is transformed into a more presentable appearance. Like Beauty and the Beast.

I cannot decide how many stars to give this. I got great enjoyment from reading it (5 stars?) but not for any of the reasons the Daisy Meadow team intended. (1 star?) So it shall remain starless. show less

There are some books that are absolutely, positively not designed for adults to enjoy. This is one of those books that 6-8 year-old girls will adore, as it collects all of the Rainbow Fairies -- and even the fairy book covers -- in one place. Each fairy is featured, clustered with her fellow fairies in her sub-series of six (unless it's a standalone title). You'll learn a bit of trivia about each fairy and a bit more about her pet companion. A highly-recommended reference for librarians used show more to finding these titles scattered on the floor as girls search for one they haven't read, for parents whose daughters can't understand why they can't keep track of the fairies the way they should, and for girls who just love fairies. Everyone else, you've been warned: it's a lot of fairies. (106) show less

Borrowed from the library by my five-year-old granddaughter. Since I hadn't read any of these previously, I read it aloud to her, and her eight-year-old brother. It's a somewhat predictable story of two girls who go to help their fairy friends to recover a stolen piano. Apparently all the rainbow magic series follow a similar plot, and there are around 200 of them in all.

Easy enough to read aloud, and a good pace although I didn't much like the inherent sexism and was concerned by the show more emphasis on keeping secrets. But as a book to encourage early readers (as intended) it's not a bad story.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/08/poppy-piano-fairy-by-daisy-meadows.... show less