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Flower Fairies
Zinnia's Magical Adventure: A Flower Fairy Chapter Book
Zinnia loves playing in the garden and tending to her flowers, but one day she decides to secretly follow some children into the wilder marshes nearby! She has a wonderful time exploring and meeting new Flower Fairy friends, but she suddenly notices it is getting late and she is lost. Luckily wise Kingcup appears and helps Zinnia find her way back to the garden, and she realizes that her home is the nicest place to be, after all!
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
1 person is currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Pippa Le Quesne
23 books4 followersPippa Le Quesne is Children's Editorial Director of Mulcahy & Viney. After working at Bloomsbury Childrens she spent two years at children's book packagers Working Partners before joining Puffin as Commissioning Editor, where she remained until her maternity leave in June 2004.The award winning authors that Pippa has edited include Livi Michael, Linda Chapman, Christopher Russell, Gervase Phinn, Alan Rusbridger and Carol Ann Duffy.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 17, 2021
(I would give the entire series four stars, though this was my least favorite)
This series was a surprise hit with both my children, particularly my eight-year-old. I’ve always loved CMB’s Flower Fairies and was a bit skeptical of this series based on her fairies but written by two different authors for Frederick Warne in the mid-2000s. However, I found the series delightful, on the whole. I wish it had been around when I was a little girl as I’m quite sure I would have loved it then. It was a treasure of an experience sharing it with my sons now. I’ve always appreciated that there are both boy and girl flower fairies and, though the girl flower fairies are the stars of all but one of the books in the series, side characters like Dandelion and Herb Robert and Snapdragon are great fun and so charmingly boy-ish and the mischievous elves add another scrappy-fun element. The stories are full of the wonders of nature and the fairies’ exciting (but not too perilous) adventures. These are not the sort of fairies who sit around waving magic wands and wearing fancy dresses to tea parties (though their flower attire is beautiful!) They feel so earth-grown – the “magic” is in the flowers, the friendship, the lessons they learn. The fairies don’t even fly very far, just little flutters from flower to flower (they must fly on birds if they want to travel long distances). Much of the “danger” involves being discovered by the humans who live nearby (though I appreciate that humans are not seen as evil or enemies, merely overly curious giants who would perhaps accidentally injure the fairies or give them no peace if their world was discovered). My boys loved their adventures! These are written at a slightly higher reading level than most of the illustrated chapter books for kids and we did them as read-alouds. At times, the style gets a little “flowery” (forgive the pun) but, on the whole, I found them well-written and engaging. Some are by Kay Woodward and some by Pippa le Quesene. I believe only the front cover illustration is by CMB – the inside illustrations appear to be done specifically for these books (though I don’t see another artist listed on the copyright page) and they don’t really hold a candle to her originals but they held my children’s attention. Unfortunately, they are out-of-print, but used copies are fairly easy to come by and at least of my local library districts have the series on their shelves. I think they would delight many young fairy enthusiasts, especially those who enjoy stories rooted in nature.
Brief reviews of each in the series (ranked from favorite to least-favorite, not in reading order. Most of the plots can easily stand-alone so you could read them in any order)
Tansy’s New Petals – This was a favorite for all of us. Many rereads. The elves are so much fun here – they are mischievous, but not “bad guys” and it was inspiring to see how her change in circumstances, while initially upsetting, led Tansy to broaden her horizons and settle in to her true passion.
Almond Blossom’s Mystery – This is my oldest’s favorite. We enjoyed the mystery element and it’s also somewhat the most “magical”/fantastical of the series. Also, the elves make an appearance (can you tell they are a big hit with my kiddos? LOL)
Sweet Pea’s Precious Promise – my kids asked for several rereads of this one, too. It was especially exciting because Little Pea gets caught in a human child’s net and a daring rescue ensues. I could relate to Sweet Pea, Little Pea’s older sister, who is always so busy caring for others that she must work hard to make time to pursue her own ambitions, too.
Candytuft’s Enchanting Treats – the first one we read and obviously enjoyed enough to continue the entire series. We enjoyed the fairy chef aspect and there’s a mystery!
Lavender’s Midsummer Mix-Up – This is one of the more “traditional” of the fairy books as Lavender helps make dresses pretty for the midsummer ball. Still, I love a good fairy ball, so no complaints.
Buttercup and the Fairy Gold features those naughty elves again, a little bit of mystery, and a brave heroine.
Wild Cherry Makes a Wish – I enjoyed a story of a shy fairy who wishes she could dance but isn’t quite brave enough to ask for lessons – then finds her bravery in an unexpected moment of danger.
Strawberry’s New Friend got a lot of reread requests, perhaps because it is the only one of the series to feature a boy fairy as the protagonist. It wasn’t my favorite (a little too angsty for me) but the message that you don’t have to do everything the same as your friend in order to be close is a good one.
Poppy’s Perfect Home might be a bit intense for sensitive youngsters as Poppy’s home is destroyed by tractors plowing new fields. However, I appreciated Poppy’s spirit and courage and there is a fairly happy ending.
Rose’s Special Secret also deals with a displaced fairy (this time, humans are redoing their garden and her rosebush is uprooted). I enjoyed her industrious attitude and ambition finding and creating a new place to call home.
Jasmine’s Starry Night – enjoyed the setting focused on nighttime and stars and the human children camping. It’s not often the fairies get to observe human children this much. Many children will relate to Jasmine feeling that she doesn’t have any special hobby or talent… and it’s nice to see how she realizes that she truly does have some special knowledge to share with the other fairies.
Lily’s Seaside Adventure – I love that we get to go to the seaside! Lily’s wish to see something truly special, even though it means not exactly doing what she’s supposed to do, is something many children can relate to… she does learn her lesson, though I do wish she had apologized and been more grateful to the fairies and bird who risked their own lives to save hers.
Zinnia’s Magical Adventure – at the bottom of my list – the human children and the elves are both more unkind than mischievous and I just didn’t love the overall tone though it’s not exactly bad.
This series was a surprise hit with both my children, particularly my eight-year-old. I’ve always loved CMB’s Flower Fairies and was a bit skeptical of this series based on her fairies but written by two different authors for Frederick Warne in the mid-2000s. However, I found the series delightful, on the whole. I wish it had been around when I was a little girl as I’m quite sure I would have loved it then. It was a treasure of an experience sharing it with my sons now. I’ve always appreciated that there are both boy and girl flower fairies and, though the girl flower fairies are the stars of all but one of the books in the series, side characters like Dandelion and Herb Robert and Snapdragon are great fun and so charmingly boy-ish and the mischievous elves add another scrappy-fun element. The stories are full of the wonders of nature and the fairies’ exciting (but not too perilous) adventures. These are not the sort of fairies who sit around waving magic wands and wearing fancy dresses to tea parties (though their flower attire is beautiful!) They feel so earth-grown – the “magic” is in the flowers, the friendship, the lessons they learn. The fairies don’t even fly very far, just little flutters from flower to flower (they must fly on birds if they want to travel long distances). Much of the “danger” involves being discovered by the humans who live nearby (though I appreciate that humans are not seen as evil or enemies, merely overly curious giants who would perhaps accidentally injure the fairies or give them no peace if their world was discovered). My boys loved their adventures! These are written at a slightly higher reading level than most of the illustrated chapter books for kids and we did them as read-alouds. At times, the style gets a little “flowery” (forgive the pun) but, on the whole, I found them well-written and engaging. Some are by Kay Woodward and some by Pippa le Quesene. I believe only the front cover illustration is by CMB – the inside illustrations appear to be done specifically for these books (though I don’t see another artist listed on the copyright page) and they don’t really hold a candle to her originals but they held my children’s attention. Unfortunately, they are out-of-print, but used copies are fairly easy to come by and at least of my local library districts have the series on their shelves. I think they would delight many young fairy enthusiasts, especially those who enjoy stories rooted in nature.
Brief reviews of each in the series (ranked from favorite to least-favorite, not in reading order. Most of the plots can easily stand-alone so you could read them in any order)
Tansy’s New Petals – This was a favorite for all of us. Many rereads. The elves are so much fun here – they are mischievous, but not “bad guys” and it was inspiring to see how her change in circumstances, while initially upsetting, led Tansy to broaden her horizons and settle in to her true passion.
Almond Blossom’s Mystery – This is my oldest’s favorite. We enjoyed the mystery element and it’s also somewhat the most “magical”/fantastical of the series. Also, the elves make an appearance (can you tell they are a big hit with my kiddos? LOL)
Sweet Pea’s Precious Promise – my kids asked for several rereads of this one, too. It was especially exciting because Little Pea gets caught in a human child’s net and a daring rescue ensues. I could relate to Sweet Pea, Little Pea’s older sister, who is always so busy caring for others that she must work hard to make time to pursue her own ambitions, too.
Candytuft’s Enchanting Treats – the first one we read and obviously enjoyed enough to continue the entire series. We enjoyed the fairy chef aspect and there’s a mystery!
Lavender’s Midsummer Mix-Up – This is one of the more “traditional” of the fairy books as Lavender helps make dresses pretty for the midsummer ball. Still, I love a good fairy ball, so no complaints.
Buttercup and the Fairy Gold features those naughty elves again, a little bit of mystery, and a brave heroine.
Wild Cherry Makes a Wish – I enjoyed a story of a shy fairy who wishes she could dance but isn’t quite brave enough to ask for lessons – then finds her bravery in an unexpected moment of danger.
Strawberry’s New Friend got a lot of reread requests, perhaps because it is the only one of the series to feature a boy fairy as the protagonist. It wasn’t my favorite (a little too angsty for me) but the message that you don’t have to do everything the same as your friend in order to be close is a good one.
Poppy’s Perfect Home might be a bit intense for sensitive youngsters as Poppy’s home is destroyed by tractors plowing new fields. However, I appreciated Poppy’s spirit and courage and there is a fairly happy ending.
Rose’s Special Secret also deals with a displaced fairy (this time, humans are redoing their garden and her rosebush is uprooted). I enjoyed her industrious attitude and ambition finding and creating a new place to call home.
Jasmine’s Starry Night – enjoyed the setting focused on nighttime and stars and the human children camping. It’s not often the fairies get to observe human children this much. Many children will relate to Jasmine feeling that she doesn’t have any special hobby or talent… and it’s nice to see how she realizes that she truly does have some special knowledge to share with the other fairies.
Lily’s Seaside Adventure – I love that we get to go to the seaside! Lily’s wish to see something truly special, even though it means not exactly doing what she’s supposed to do, is something many children can relate to… she does learn her lesson, though I do wish she had apologized and been more grateful to the fairies and bird who risked their own lives to save hers.
Zinnia’s Magical Adventure – at the bottom of my list – the human children and the elves are both more unkind than mischievous and I just didn’t love the overall tone though it’s not exactly bad.
July 23, 2017
Zinnia is an adventurous little fairy who lives within the safe garden with her tiresome little cousins. When her friend offers to babysit for her, she doesn't hesitate to strike out on her on in search of something new.
because she's afraid to look weak and wants to impress some new wild flower fairies she meets, Zinna stays out longer than she should of and runs into a bit of trouble.
Cute book... not particularly thrilling, but a good early reader for little ones who love fairies. my 3 star review is probably not fair because this is an early reader... I think i would have 5 star loved this book as a new reader, but I can't seem to make myself raise the rating.
because she's afraid to look weak and wants to impress some new wild flower fairies she meets, Zinna stays out longer than she should of and runs into a bit of trouble.
Cute book... not particularly thrilling, but a good early reader for little ones who love fairies. my 3 star review is probably not fair because this is an early reader... I think i would have 5 star loved this book as a new reader, but I can't seem to make myself raise the rating.
October 21, 2011
I love Cicely Mary Barker’s art of the fairies always have but the story in the book does not do them justice. Sadly I was bored with the book. I read then had to skim the story maybe mostly because well I read a lot of faery books and this one just had no real story. Most the faery chapter books I have read have a lesson or moral. I am not saying that every book should have that but the adventure was just plain boring.
I did like the different character fairies they all seemed to have there own personality including the elves.
The art is great, book cover beautiful with a nothing to write home about tale. This is first I have read in the flower fairies series and I think I would read another to see how it is but I was really disappointed in this one.
For those that might like the series or something similar take a look at Fairy School series by Gail Herman.
I did like the different character fairies they all seemed to have there own personality including the elves.
The art is great, book cover beautiful with a nothing to write home about tale. This is first I have read in the flower fairies series and I think I would read another to see how it is but I was really disappointed in this one.
For those that might like the series or something similar take a look at Fairy School series by Gail Herman.
July 22, 2016
My love of reading started when i was young, and it gives me immense pleasure to provide books to Spread the Word Nevada, an organization that passes them on to children in the community. They are a terrific organization supporting an important cause. If your local I encourage you to check them out. For those living further a field, look in your own community, their may already be a similar program in place. And if not, you can always help start one.
http://spreadthewordnevada.org/
Myself, I go out on the weekends and
shop thrift store and bulk book lots to rescue books and donate them. Sometimes I'll find a book I remember reading when I was young and will read it again before passing it on.
I don't rate these books using my normal scale, instead I give most of them three stars. This isn't a Criticism of the book, simply my way of rating them as good for children.
January 20, 2016
Zinnia wants to go on an adventure and she visits the marsh area, meeting new fairies and making new friends. Unfortunately, she encounters some of the trouble-causing elves, but Kingcup comes to her aid.
She ends up realizing just how wonderful home can me. Another good book in the series.
She ends up realizing just how wonderful home can me. Another good book in the series.
February 2, 2009
selah says: "zinnia longed for freedom and went to her freedom, and left someone behind to take care of her family. she was brave enough to go to the marsh and follow human children."
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews