Dulcie's Taste of Magic

Tales of Pixie Hollow #11

by Gail Herman, Disney Storybook Artists (Illustrator)

Poor Dulcie! After the overworked baking fairy nearly ruins breakfast, Queen Clarion tells her to take a holiday. But Dulcie’s vacation is no fun at all. Her friends are too busy to spend time with her. And worse, the bossy new baking fairy, Ginger, has taken over Dulcie’s job! Then Dulcie stumbles across an ancient magical recipe in the library. She’s desperate to try it out. But how can she bake the mysterious Comfort Cake if she’s not allowed in the kitchen? “These books are classic Disney with little bits of wisdom wrapped around entertaining adventures.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fairies, Middle Grade, Fiction, Chapter Books, Juvenile

113 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Gail Herman, formerly a children's book editor in New York City, has written picture books, easy-to-reads, and chapter books, including many titles in the Who Was/What Was series. She lives in Newton, Massachusetts with her family.

Reviews

[Maranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel silly whenever I get in the mood to read this book.😂 20 years old and I’m still reading the Disney fairy books I’ve read since I was like 6. Oddly enough, it really is one of my only comfort books. Somehow it reminds me of the things my younger self struggled with and how I overcame those things. It kinda makes everything I’m dealing with rn seem not so bad.

[Lexy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was okay

[Lizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are so precious to me.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dulcie LOVES to bake, so much so, that when she has a series of misshaps in the Pixie Hollow Tea Room Kitchen, Queen Clarion forces her to take a much-needed break. But Duclie finds herself feeling lost and unable to relax after so many years doing what she loves most. After discovering a hidden recipe amongst the books at the fairy library, she goes on a quest gathering the ingredients she needs to create a surprising long-lost Never Land treat!

A great, fun story for us type-A's who never take a break and teaching kids about the value of stepping outside your comfort zone sometimes. Loved this cute story, as I'm big on baking as well. ;)

[Salwa Balfas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 > 4,petualangannya seru apalagi ketika dulcie menemukan perkamen yang isinya resep ajaib dari perpustakaan 👌🏻.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’m re reading all these and reading some new ones i didn’t have. This one was super cute :) Not logging them in my reading challenge though just cause they take like 45 mins to read🤷🏽‍♀️

[Makenzie Muñoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this one!! The art? Impeccable. The characters? So lovable!! (minus Ginger...) The storyline? Amazing!

This book is full of great reminders and life lessons!
-don't compare yourself to others. It isn't good for anyone!
-remember the "why". When needed, realign your values and reasons with that.
-you are a small part of a much bigger picture! You play a special part and have value, but don't forget that everyone plays a useful role and also has value!

[olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

1) there are fairies with the talent of: tea-serving, egg-collecting, food-serving, and laundry

2) dulcie is definitely a stereotypical capricorn. loves to be in charge, work obsessed, and beyond passionate about her craft. she is me and i am her

3) ginger is such a bitch, i want to smack her with one of dulcie’s baking pans

4) dulcie learns to appreciate the working class okay little miss undercover boss. she discovers that she doesn’t love bossing people around, she just loves her job

[Anna Buhrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took this out from the library randomly because it was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. I finished it in one sitting because it's super short haha, and it was still surprisingly good reading it years later! Loved and will always love pixie hollow 💕

[Pixie 🍜 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little story about learning more about everything that goes into cooking and appreciating everyone’s part in something you do.

[Nonô · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was 9 I started reading this but never finished, and now I did💪
It was a good story, nothing big but it wasn't small either. It's a great book for kids🙌
I love Pixie Hollow and now I want the rest of the books😭 I love these illustrations🫶

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish dulcie was in the movies

[amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

read April 11, 2025 - April 11, 2025: 4 stars

[Coralie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite covers. I just love that shade of green. I’ve always enjoyed this story, too. Perhaps partly because I like to cook and bake, so Dulcie, as a baking-talent fairy, is one of my favorites. But I also think I just enjoy the story of this one. It’s adventurous and sweet.

Dulcie is a bit of a mess, always rushing around and definitely a hard-working fairy! I love her diligence for her work and respect the love of her talent and art. I relate to her in that way, including the need for the reminder to slow down and take a break sometimes. But that isn’t the quite focus of this quick little read.

In her hurry, Dulcie makes a mistake and is forced to take a break. She sees it as a punishment at first and fears a new baking-talent who isn’t so nice will take her place as head baking-talent fairy. At first she kind of twiddles about trying to obey the queen and rest. But soon she realizes that all the other fairies are preoccupied with their work and their talents. She’s a little put out that she’s denied her own love of baking, but determined to prove she’s enjoying her day off.

Finally, Dulcie decides to read about cooking since she can’t be in her own kitchen. Did I not say I loved Dulcie? 😉 Anyway, she find an ancient recipe and spends her time flying all across Pixie Hollow gathering ingredients. I love how we get to see different parts of Pixie Hollow in this one and how Dulcie learns where her ingredients come from so she is less likely to take them for granted in the future. It was just really fun to see how things work in their world and follow the chain to how the ingredients make it into the hands of the baking-talents.

Much like Dulcie, I believe in the power of food to bring people together and in comfort food. I love how a nice warm soup on a chilly day can warm you down to your soul and the memories and laughter shared around a dinner table. So, it was a real treat to see Dulcie’s passion for bringing joy to the other fairies. Definitely a great book in the series!

[Nilsson]

I know a fairy who needs to take a holiday as well.

[kenziesue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read this one a million times and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it. It’s about so much more than just a fairy baking a recipe. I think Dulcie is such an awesome and well-developed character. I love her development throughout this story and really relate to it as someone in a creative field also dealing with burnout and a disconnect from my craft.

Dulcie seems to be suffering from a bit of burnout at the start of this story, totally stressed out and overwhelmed with her work and running the kitchen. When she’s forced to take a vacation following a kitchen disaster, she’s worried she’ll be replaced if she takes a break. Even though she’s totally burnt out, she misses her passion of baking. Hoping to save her reputation and beat the competition, she spends the entire story working on a sort of “passion project”, a mysterious ancient recipe, and reconnecting with the process every step of the way. By the end of the story, she’s more appreciative of all the work everyone in Pixie Hollow does to help support her kitchen (reconnects with the process), and learns to take a step back when she’s feeling overwhelmed. She also recognizes why she bakes in the first place and what motivates her to do what she does.

It was so cute to see her reconnect with her passion and deal with burnout not by doing nothing, but by taking a step back from the mundane and focusing on the journey and process rather than just the outcome. Sometimes taking a step back from what you think you should be doing and picking up a project that you’re passionate about is a great way to reset creatively. It’s so easy to become comfortable and complacent with chaos and dissatisfaction, but a change of scenery and perspective can work wonders for the soul. Anyways, slay.

[Cyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

kenalan sama Dulcie, peri-bakat-kue dari seri Disney Fairies 🧚🏼‍♀️🧚🏼

—

buku ini tntg Dulcie, peri-bakat-kue yg suatu hari ngerasa 'down' karna ada Ginger, peri-bakat-kue baru yg ingin berkuasa di dapur. Dulcie mulai merasa rendah diri, gugup, dan berujung apa yg ia lakukan serba salah. dng hadirnya Ginger, rasa percaya diri Dulcie seakan pudar.

oleh Queen Clarion, Dulcie dikasih waktu istirahat dari dapur dan mulai menjelajah Pixie Hollow, ngeliat peri bakat lainnya kerja. ga sengaja di perpus, Dulcie nemuin buku berisi resep ajaib Kue-Nyaman. tapi gimana caranya kalo dia sendiri gaboleh masuk dapur utk sementara waktu? karna penasaran sama hasilnya, Dulcie mulai keliling Pixie Hollow diam" buat ngumpulin bahan bakunya (alias ngutil 🙁). oya, selama ini Dulcie gatau asal tepung, atau telur, atau bahan lain. semua bahan baku tiba" sampe aja di dapur 😆

karna aku yakin 100% spoiler is fine buat buku anak.. gimana jadinya Kue-Nyaman? hasil panggangannya bantat gais. tapi boong. akhirnya kuenya tumbuh kek taneman, trs tiba" ada krim" gulanya. jadi kue paling meriah deh.

meski kurasa gada nilai moral yg bisa dipetik (malah ngajarin ngutil loh, apa cobakkk), i enjoyed this one.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one. The main character is a baking fairy who gets burned out. Both the main character and some of the others have their flaws, and of course the main character learns to work on hers—she’s a workaholic and so focused on her own passion she neglects to recognize others. I listened to this on audio (they're just an hour long), but would like to find a copy of the book to see the illustrations.

There’s also a nice sense of community in these books that echo being in school, where you have to get along with a lot of people and not everyone is easy and likable. But there aren’t clicks, bullying, etc. The authors do a good job of combining fantasy and adventure with relatable elements.

[Stefanie Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is ten chapters long, I would say that it is acceptable for second grade and above. I like how the words are big and clear for a reader to read and follow along. The pictures in the book are also so colorful and magical looking. This story is about Dulcie who is a baking fair. She cooks meals three times a day seven days a week and never gets tired. Until one day she wakes up late and panics because she doesn't have anything ready! trouble comes along and she tries to make everything better by baking a cake, ginger, on the other hand, isn't so happy about Dulcie. This is a great story i enjoyed reading it.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first chapter book in a while that my daughter came home from school and wanted to read it and finished it in one sitting! She really enjoyed this book! So, I read it and I thought it was a pretty good book. Maybe this is just me bring a mom, but I wish Dulcie would have bought the ingredients instead of stealing/sneaking them. I'm sure I'm just being silly about it. But overall, it was a goid book.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about a fairy named dulcie who was incharge of the baking kitchen she was late one morning and didnt habe food done in time for breakfast well the queen ordered her to take a vacation. She went to the library and found a magical recipe she travels everywhere to get each ingredient and she made the comfort cake everyone loves it and the queen put her back in charge

[Abby Shupe · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend gifted this to me as a joke, because I love the Pixie Hollow movies. I was bored and read it in an one hour english class. A sparkly cover, pretty art, and a fairly interesting plot. I expected it to be boring but I was on the edge of my seat half the time. Ginger is a bitch. The ending was extremely unexpected and I was pleasantly surprised.

[Toni Hampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew uo reading these books and have decided to re-read them as an adult. My review is based on the "lesson" I learned with each!
Dulcie's Taste of Magic is a cute little book about taking a break, looking up from where you are, and enjoying the present. Dulcie learned there was so much more to Pixie Hollow than just the kitchen!

[Rachael Anra · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a very simple book to read, though has a good message that young children would be able to understand. I like the book and read it because I had it and reminded me of childhood. Plus I like how it shows that everyone makes mistakes and that they need to take a break from the world if needed.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was OBSESSED with this book as a child, and just reread it. It was super easy and just as fun as I remember.
I don’t know if I’d recommend it to people who didn’t read it when they were younger,but it was a awesome nostalgic read for me.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The work Dulcie put's into her baking is perfect and awesome. She is amazing, she went on a trip to see where all the ingredients come from and made the most marvelous cake imaginable. She really found her self in this tale and was very brilliant. So enjoyable.

[mady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to love this book when I was a kid so I reread it ITS SO CUTE N FUN I love all the descriptions of the baking and idk it’s so wholesome and lowkey the story is interesting like I wasn’t at all bored in the 30 minutes it took me to read it?? very good memories

[Bee 🐝]

i read this one as an ebook because i don’t have a physical copy, but luckily it still kept the art throughout. i liked the baking element in this one because what’s more spring than fairies and baking? it was fun reading Dulcie’s journey of gathering the ingredients for the mysterious recipe.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it!! One of my favorites in this series. :D Love how she read books and went on an adventure and what became of it in the end.

[Alyssa Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to listen to the audiobook in the car with the kids on a long road trip.