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Chrissie the Wish Fairy (Rainbow Magic) by Daisy Meadows (view source)
Revision as of 10:06, 6 September 2008
, 10:06, 6 September 2008no edit summary
{{infobox
|title=Chrissie the Wish Fairy (Rainbow Magic)
|author=Daisy Meadows
|reviewer=Magda Healey
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Volume 63 of the Rainbow Magic series, this is a stand-alone
Christmas issue, better than last year's "Page" and delivering the standard
formula of gentle but fast moving adventures of Kirsty & Rachel against the
goblins. Easy to read for those just starting, unchallenging but nothing to
get excited about unless you are a 6 year old fairy collector. Only buy it if you're made to.
|rating=3
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Maybe
|format=Paperback
|pages=176
|publisher=Orchard Books
|date=4 Oct 2007
|isbn=978-1846165061
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846165067</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1846165067</amazonus>
}}
This is volume number 63 of the Rainbow Magic series, this time a
stand-alone Christmas issue (like last year's ''Page'' and the first of
them ''Holly'') rather than a part of a normal 7-book subset, and thus
longer. As usual, we have fairy artefacts in danger of being snatched by
Jack Frost's goblins, and a fairy in need of help. Chrissie is a fairy
looking after a Christmas card, spoon and a carol sheet without which all
kinds of Christmas wishes will remain unfulfilled. Goblins are trying to get
their green paws on those and Rachel and Kirsty have to help.
As usual, there is magic from the Fairyland, lots of non-threatening
adventure and a resolution in each sub-story. The human girls are
resourceful and seem to have grown a bit, but are still similar to the target market of the book, the
baddies are just a little bit scary but not too much - nothing to give
nightmares: magically grown goblins are still smaller then the girls. All
the positive characters are female and all the baddies are male and often
quite laughable; which matches the developmental stage to which the books
appeal.
Despite the fact that all Rainbow Magic books are written to exactly the
same formula (a bit like levels of a computer game), some seem slightly
better than others, and this is one of those. The adventure is fast moving,
there is quite a bit of interweaving of the home life and the magic (goblins
wreck a kitchen, for example, Rachel's dad almost sees one and so on).
Nevertheless, as the other five dozen, ''Chrissie'' is nothing more
than a product, carefully positioned and manufactured according to this
positioning; anodyne and inoffensive and considering the amount of decent
reading material, even for this age group; has nothing in particular to
recommend it. If your daughter collects the series, this will have to be
bought - at least it does the job in one volume with three artefacts! If you
have a daughter of about 6 or less who is just starting and/or struggling to
read and is frustrated by more difficult "early readers", this might get her
started. The print is large, there are pictures, the chapters are short and
the harder words are carefully introduced and repeated. Don't buy it to read
aloud, as it defies the point, though this one reads better than some other
examples of the series.
For an altogether better if shorter read about a nasty creature that hated
Christmas, look no further than [[How the Grinch Stole Christmas!]]
{{amazontext|amazon=1846165067}}
'''Reviews of other books by Daisy Meadows'''
[[The Rainbow Magic Treasury]]
[[Bethany the Ballet Fairy]]
{{commenthead}}
|title=Chrissie the Wish Fairy (Rainbow Magic)
|author=Daisy Meadows
|reviewer=Magda Healey
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Volume 63 of the Rainbow Magic series, this is a stand-alone
Christmas issue, better than last year's "Page" and delivering the standard
formula of gentle but fast moving adventures of Kirsty & Rachel against the
goblins. Easy to read for those just starting, unchallenging but nothing to
get excited about unless you are a 6 year old fairy collector. Only buy it if you're made to.
|rating=3
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Maybe
|format=Paperback
|pages=176
|publisher=Orchard Books
|date=4 Oct 2007
|isbn=978-1846165061
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846165067</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1846165067</amazonus>
}}
This is volume number 63 of the Rainbow Magic series, this time a
stand-alone Christmas issue (like last year's ''Page'' and the first of
them ''Holly'') rather than a part of a normal 7-book subset, and thus
longer. As usual, we have fairy artefacts in danger of being snatched by
Jack Frost's goblins, and a fairy in need of help. Chrissie is a fairy
looking after a Christmas card, spoon and a carol sheet without which all
kinds of Christmas wishes will remain unfulfilled. Goblins are trying to get
their green paws on those and Rachel and Kirsty have to help.
As usual, there is magic from the Fairyland, lots of non-threatening
adventure and a resolution in each sub-story. The human girls are
resourceful and seem to have grown a bit, but are still similar to the target market of the book, the
baddies are just a little bit scary but not too much - nothing to give
nightmares: magically grown goblins are still smaller then the girls. All
the positive characters are female and all the baddies are male and often
quite laughable; which matches the developmental stage to which the books
appeal.
Despite the fact that all Rainbow Magic books are written to exactly the
same formula (a bit like levels of a computer game), some seem slightly
better than others, and this is one of those. The adventure is fast moving,
there is quite a bit of interweaving of the home life and the magic (goblins
wreck a kitchen, for example, Rachel's dad almost sees one and so on).
Nevertheless, as the other five dozen, ''Chrissie'' is nothing more
than a product, carefully positioned and manufactured according to this
positioning; anodyne and inoffensive and considering the amount of decent
reading material, even for this age group; has nothing in particular to
recommend it. If your daughter collects the series, this will have to be
bought - at least it does the job in one volume with three artefacts! If you
have a daughter of about 6 or less who is just starting and/or struggling to
read and is frustrated by more difficult "early readers", this might get her
started. The print is large, there are pictures, the chapters are short and
the harder words are carefully introduced and repeated. Don't buy it to read
aloud, as it defies the point, though this one reads better than some other
examples of the series.
For an altogether better if shorter read about a nasty creature that hated
Christmas, look no further than [[How the Grinch Stole Christmas!]]
{{amazontext|amazon=1846165067}}
'''Reviews of other books by Daisy Meadows'''
[[The Rainbow Magic Treasury]]
[[Bethany the Ballet Fairy]]
{{commenthead}}