Good intentions and heroism wrapped in a dainty package for girls who can’t get enough fairies.
The first installment in a chapter-book series chronicling the adventures of Tinker Bell’s younger sisters.
While Tinker Bell is off in Never Land with Peter Pan, her younger sisters enjoy their own fairy lives on Sheepskerry Island. Sylva, Tinker Bell’s second-youngest sister (youngest being baby Squeak), is looking forward to her birthday, as once she is 8 fairy years old she will be allowed to attend the Fairy Ball. She’s crushed when the fairy queen, Mab, schedules the ball for the day before her birthday. Poor Sylva tries to come to terms with having to stay home with baby Squeak while her other sisters go to the ball, but her efforts to help her sisters prepare go awry. Finally, the night of the ball comes, and through the window, Sylva witnesses a large band of trolls heading straight for Queen Mab’s palace and the ball. Sylva must (after securing her also-too-young-for-the-ball friend to watch Squeak) make the difficult decision to break the age rule and save the fairies from the trolls, who seek to steal the fairy magic. The narration is sweet and gentle—verging on too sweet—but Sylva’s proactive personality makes her an engaging character for readers to follow.
Good intentions and heroism wrapped in a dainty package for girls who can’t get enough fairies. (glossary of baby Squeak’s language, cake recipe, music) (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: April 23, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-222802-4
Page Count: 109
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
Lovely and evocative, just the thing to spark an interest in the original and its sequels—and the upcoming film sequel, Mary...
Refined, spit-spot–tidy illustrations infuse a spare adaptation of the 1934 classic with proper senses of decorum and wonder.
Novesky leaves out much—the Bird Woman, Adm. Boom, that ethnically problematic world tour, even Mr. and Mrs. Banks—but there’s still plenty going on. Mary Poppins introduces Jane and Michael (their twin younger sibs are mentioned but seem to be left at home throughout) to the Match-Man and the buoyant Mr. Wigg, lets them watch Mrs. Corry and her daughters climb tall ladders to spangle the night sky with gilt stars, and takes them to meet the zoo animals (“Bird and beast, star and stone—we are all one,” says the philosophical bear). At last, when the wind changes, she leaves them with an “Au revoir!” (“Which means, Dear Reader, ‘to meet again.’ ”) Slender and correct, though with dangling forelocks that echo and suggest the sweeping curls of wind that bring her in and carry her away, Mary Poppins takes the role of impresario in Godbout’s theatrically composed scenes, bearing an enigmatic smile throughout but sharing with Jane and Michael (and even the parrot-headed umbrella) an expression of wide-eyed, alert interest as she shepherds them from one marvelous encounter to the next. The Corrys have brown skin; the rest of the cast presents white.
Lovely and evocative, just the thing to spark an interest in the original and its sequels—and the upcoming film sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, which opens in December 2018. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-328-91677-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
The underwater setting adds some dimension to straightforward friendship stories.
Prolific Dadey's (Keyholders: The Wrong Side of Magic, 2010, etc.) latest series follows young mermaids through turbulent friendships.
Eight-year-old best friends Shelly and Echo are overjoyed to be starting school at the prestigious Trident Academy at the same time. Rambunctious and good-natured, together they cause mild trouble, especially in trying to find a way to make grumpy Mr. Fangtooth crack a smile. Their friendship wobbles when they disagree over whether to ask Shelly's grandfather for help on a school project or not. The minor tiff leads to Echo's sudden friendship with Pearl, a rich snob who dislikes Shelly most of all. Echo and Shelly miss each other, though, and restore their friendship while reaching out to another mermaid who is new to the area and has made friends. While Echo and Shelly are not particularly distinctive, and Pearl and the archetypal token boy, Rocky, are cartoony, the characters' interactions are funny and believable. The friendship-driven conflicts continue in Battle of the Best Friends (publishing simultaneously). In Battle, Pearl books a top under-the-sea band to perform and invites Echo but not Shelly; the end again reinforces the importance of inclusiveness and rewards those who are nice.
The underwater setting adds some dimension to straightforward friendship stories. (class reports written by each character, song lyrics, author's note, glossary) (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: May 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4978-7
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
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