The Fairy Who Wouldn’t Fly

The Fairy Who Wouldn’t Fly retold by Bronwyn Davies, illustrated by Pixie O’Harris (National Library of Australia)

HC RRP $24.99

ISBN 9780642278517

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Bronwyn Davies retells the original story by Pixie O’Harris of The Fairy Who Wouldn’t Fly, one of the classics from the National Library’s Marcie Muir Collection of Children’s Books. Themes covered include being different, conquering your fears, discovering your own individual gifts, adjusting to other’s expectation while staying true to yourself, and working together to bring about change.

It sounds a lot, but the story is so perfectly arranged that one theme rolls into another naturally.

The Fairy-who-wouldn’t-fly doesn’t want to be like other fairies. She enjoys lying in her spider web hammock and watching the world go by. So she is banished from Fairyland to the Woodn’t until she learns to comply with the rules.

In the Woodn’t everything is different. Lots of living things don’t do what is expected of them. Trees grow their own way. Kookaburra doesn’t laugh. Frog doesn’t like hopping. Bee won’t join the hive. Bat refuses to fly at night, Glow-worm won’t shine, Spider won’t spin, and Flower’s petals won’t close at sunset. How boring it all is.

The Fairy-who-wouldn’t-fly begins to imagine how it would feel to fly. At first, her attempts fail, but with perseverance, she discovers joy and achievement in flight.

When a very young boy is lost in the forest, the fairy enlists the help of the group to return the boy home. In a show of unity, they all reclaim their abandoned talents and learn many things about themselves they didn’t know.

The exquisite original illustrations are accompanied by additional pictures from NLA’s collection. Davies has breathed new life into an old favourite for another generation to enjoy and learn from.

The presentation, as usual, is of the highest quality. The book comes with a gorgeous jacket and the valuable information is found in the List of Illustrations. This is another gem for collectors and lovers of unique children’s books, regardless of age.

Rainbow Magic: Selena the Sleepover Fairy

Rainbow Magic: Selena the Sleepover Fairy by Daisy Meadows (Orchard Books/Hachette)
PB RRP $9.99
ISBN: 9781408330739
Reviewed by Hilary Smillie

This Early Reader edition has been especially designed for younger fans of Rainbow Magic books, with an easy vocabulary and full colour, beautiful illustrations to encourage independent reading. The book has been divided into three story chapters.

Rachel and Kirsty, who are friends of the fairies, are going with their school to have a sleepover in the National Museum. On the way, their coach stops at a service station and the children stretch their legs. The two friends notice a cloud of purple fairy dust and sure enough, a fairy appears. It is Selena the Sleepover Fairy who is very unhappy because Jack Frost’s servants, the goblins, have stolen three of her objects vital to ensure a happy sleepover. She needs to recover The Magical Sleeping Bag, The Enchanted Games Bag and The Sleepover Snack Box as quickly as possible and return them to Fairyland. The girls offer to help Selena find them.

Daisy Meadows has created an enchanting storyline which maintains interest to the end. There is plenty of action and excitement as the girls set out to recover the lost items. Kirsty and Rachel are used to being transformed into fairy-size by a wave of a wand, and they are very good at solving problems and dealing with nasty goblins. Jack Frost gets his comeuppance, too! With such fun characters, it is no wonder that the Rainbow Magic series holds small girls in thrall. I was impressed by the full colour illustrations which add a lot more oomph than black and white drawings. The large font text is also a plus.

With each of the original stories available as Early Readers, junior fans of the series will be delighted at the feast of reading in store for them.