Ruby the Red Fairy by Daisy Matthews ( Children's, 5 years +, 9/10)

May 2003, Orchard Books

80 pages, Paperback

Personal copy

Themes: Jack frost, fairies, being able to fly, making friends, holiday, exploring, adventure, magic, trapped fairies, the beginning of a quest, some humour

Summary from Orchard

When Rachel and Kirsty meet on the ferry to Rainspell Island one summer holiday, they have no idea that such incredible adventures with the fairies await them!

in this first book in the series, Rachel and Kirsty meet Ruby the Red Fairy at the end of the rainbow...

Nayuleska's thoughts

I chose this book for research purposes for my current wip (a writer's Work In Progress) which involves fairies. It's important to know the market you're writing for, so my research is super fun! I loved how Rachel and Kirsty discover Ruby, how she helps them temporarily become fairies and how much adventure the friends will ahve in future books. The front cover is stunning, and the illustrations match the image of fairies that I have in my head.

My grumbles for this book which made it an 8/10 read are firstly the plot wasn't as clear as it could have been. The girls meet Ruby, and they go and meet the fairy king and queen, and that's it. I was surprised when it ended as it didn't feel like an end. I'd have expected the girls to at least had more of a quest in freeing Ruby. The other things are minor details. The king and queen didn't have wings in the illustrations, the fairies had see through wings which made it tricky to appreciate them in the illustrations, and Jack Frost's verse wasn't explained or signposted, it was in a place I would have ignored if I had read this when I was little.

You can find out more on the dedicated website.

Suggested read

For more magical quests try the Spell Sisters series which focuses on Arthurian legend. The first is Spell Sisters: Sophia the Flame Sister by Amber Castle.