Philippa Fisher and the Dream Maker's Daughter: Book 2

Philippa Fisher #2

by Liz Kessler

Philippa and Daisy, her fairy godsister, are reunited in a second magical Philippa Fisher adventure. Being on holiday with her mum and dad should be wonderful, but Philippa Fisher is lonely. When she meets a girl called Robyn, she's sure there's something odd about her, something she's not saying, and she's determined to find out what it is. And whatever it is, Philippa is sure that her fairy godsister, Daisy, will be able to help. But things are about to go horribly wrong...Wonderful characters, an intriguing plot, and all the magic you could wish for - this is Liz Kessler at her very best in a lovely, sympathetic story about friendships old and new.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fairies, Fiction, Magic, Young Adult

290 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Liz Kessler is the author of three novels about Philippa Fisher as well as the NEW YORK TIMES best-selling Emily Windsnap series. She lives in Manchester, England.

Reviews

[tteise]

This book permanently altered my brain as a child

[Adeline]

Okay, Phillipa is perfect in this book! Such an adventurous novel with lovely characters and a cute twist and surprise. True perfection is written all over the pages of this book. This book is as sweet as candy. So lovable an somewhat relatable. A charm in Phillipa's continuing story.

[Cate]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book since I’m older and this book cover and story is for children. I found the plot super intriguing and I love the magical vibes. I really like how this book dealt with grief which is a tough topic for kids and turned it into something more easy to understand and how to work through it. Solid 4 ⭐️ read.

[rafia]

[4 stars] ✧ "It was just a goodbye. It was just a step along a journey, not the end of it. It was a parting, not an ending."

this was actually really good!! maybe even better than the first book. there are a few holes but it's a children's book, and tbh, it holds up. so fun <3

[Hazel (and Nutsy)]

I think this one pretty good. It was more exciting and mysterious than the first, and it had a more complex solution to the mystery which is better for older readers. This also means, that the first one was more suited for younger readers and the second for older readers, therefore, neither would be able to enjoy both of them equally, and might not even make it through both of them. I also think this was kind of cheesy, especially with Philippa's dialogue with robyn and daisy. But, I definitely liked the characters and plot elevation in this one, and overall it was suspenseful, mysterious, and exciting.

[Kitri M]

I finished this book a few months ago, and I have parted from the story with so much fondness for it.

I remembered this book so much from my childhood. It has been extremely prominent in my memory for many years, following me in dreams, and even nightmares.

I think I didn’t understand the details of the story when I was younger, it seemed scary to me then. I had a recurring nightmare many years later, as a teenager, of searching for Daisy in that room where she was kept, with this looming presence chasing at my heels. In the dream, I was safe in the day, but at night, this monster would chase me while I had to find the butterfly Daisy. This nightmare is really what brought the book back to my memory.

I promised myself I would read it again, and I am so happy that I have. I absolutely loved it. The story was so compelling, and as the mystery unfolded, it became so beautiful.

I absolutely adored the ending… it was a beautiful message of grieving and healing, told in an extremely beautiful way.

The way this book described numbness, and the way it emphasized the importance of feeling all the pain of loss. And how, when you do, it may unleash something even more beautiful when healed. But if not, if it is continuously repressed, you become stunted, unable to grow, and that energy will turn into something destructive. This book was more for the adult me than it was for the child me. It was so beautiful.

[Maddie]

In this adventure Philippa and her family Go on a vacation that Philippa earned in a talent show in the previous book. Along the way Philippa meets great and interesting new people. Like Robin. Philippa soon finds out about Robins dad and his secret. Philippa then has to find a way to save Daisy from certain doom.

[Kate]

I thinks it was a great addition to Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister. It had a great plot and was very exciting. These books are cute,worthwhile...and fun to read. I like reading cute books, books that do not take too much thought, but flow nicely. I will definitely read the next book.

[Binibining `E (of The Ugly Writers)]

Another good story about fairies, magic and unusual friendships. Adventures in this book are out of this world and quite a bit fascinating. Enjoyed it. Will read the third book soon.

[Hadessephy]

What a wonderful story. The best book I've read by this author. I recommend for anyone who's lost their mother.

[Atbash (Emma)]

I never read this one as a kid!! Stronger themes than the first, higher stakes for certain. This was a horror book, you guys. Kind of awesome.

Some of the plot beats felt a little garbled, especially towards the end, and I wish the father’s role hadn’t been so telegraphed— I really wanted Annie to be the twist villain, the “looks can be deceiving” surprise scary adult, danger masquerading as comfort, foreshadowed by the sinister set dressing around her cottage, father was right to hate her all along, etc. But what we got was nice too. They played the father well overall, this well-intentioned guy making choices based in grief, “protecting” his child at the expense of her own autonomy and healing. And at the expense of life, also. Dark as hell.

The handling of grief was strong, as was the tentativeness of Philippa chasing that connection with Robyn? The way Philippa gave her space to talk around and about it, the relief Robyn felt at being listened to and understood… these books celebrate preteen friendship so poignantly. Like, it is the most important thing and also the end of the world in these books. There’s real heart there.

“Homosociality” is a term more often used to describe to relationships between adult men, from what I’ve read, but I don’t think I’d be wrong to attribute the term here? Philippa and Robyn’s friendship is also marked by this sense of masquerading, of changing your shape to mask outside perceptions: Philippa spends the book quietly lamenting (in a way that never gets resolved, actually… book three, I hope??) how often she ends up deferring to the wishes of her parents, how she takes on a passive but somehow more responsible role than either of them during their family outings. Robyn confesses to hiding interests and opinions from her typical friend group, wearing this kind of unbothered, fashionable persona that even Philippa clocks and initially judges her for, all while her unprocessed grief sits inside her like a tumor. They’re both chasing a sense of intimacy and understanding that they haven’t been able to achieve with any other (typical) peer. In lieu of more complicated markers of internal wrongness or atypicality for which society demands they repress and find more acceptable outlets, it comes to a head like this: they both, at their big age, believe in fairies. And sharing that with each other is exciting, but textually crossing a line for them both— Robyn is so defensive about her belief, so ready to be mocked and belittled for it, that she accuses Philippa of doing exactly that. And Philippa spends the whole time twisting herself up worrying how much she’s allowed to reveal without getting Daisy, the best friend she’s been pining after, in trouble.

AND DAISY. Using belief in fairies to make the above reading work is KIND OF PERFECT because the literal PLOT only happens because Daisy’s bosses were like Jesus she and that girl got really attached to each other. Friendship scores literally off the charts. We gotta capitalize off of this. Like, okay, call me when your sixth grade situationship saves a girl’s life and also a tree from exploding into real fire, somehow.

And with my shipper goggles on: dude they have pet names. Daisy is SO possessive of Philippa and Philippa is SO insecure about whether Daisy actually likes her for real or if it was just for the job and they are SO MIDDLE SCHOOL. They were together for TWO WEEKS. Daisy was a damsel in distress for the climax of this book and it was SO EFFECTIVE because listen *I* was in distress about it. There were tears. I’m in too deep, I’m afraid.

I don’t even care about the worldbuilding magic rules WHATEVER. There were dream lions for no good reason and I don’t care. No, okay, actually, I will say I care about this: It does lose solid points for using Culturally Nondenominational Dream Catchers, zero reference to indigenous communities, that at least one other ‘00s fantasy series I can think of also makes the mistake of doing. It even tries to whitewash it with its own mythos, using material from severed fairy wings to power them, which really sucks.

That brings it down, but overall, I really enjoyed reading this one. My library doesn’t HAVE the third one but mark my words I will be finding it. And reading it.

[Siobhan Mackie]

After winning a holiday for her family in the school talent show, Philippa and her parents have decided (with a little fairy help) on a small forest village for the week. When they get there, they find a pottery studio, and when the weather is bad, the family go in to paint mugs. While they're there, Philippa meets a girl called Robyn, who seems close with the owner of the shop. Philippa and Robyn are just beginning to get on, when Robyn's dad calls over to pick her up, and leaves everyone shaken at his appearance and anger. While Philippa thinks about how well she got on with Robyn, she is surprised with a visit from her fairy friend, Daisy. Daisy says she's on an important job, and she can't tell Philippa, but she wanted to see her. Philippa is glad to see her friend again, but wishes it could have been for longer. Philippa bumps into Robyn again, and they go for a walk with Philippa's parents through the woods, and the two girls really become close. It turns out that Robyn also believes in fairies, and Philippa is really excited to meet someone like her. When Daisy goes missing, Philippa is very upset, and there's something not quite right about Robyn's dad that Philippa wants to solve whilst trying to get Daisy back. Will she be able to find Daisy and help Robyn without endangering anyone?

As with the first book in the series, it is aimed at a younger reader than myself, and I should have read it much sooner. I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first book, but I'm wondering if that's because I found Philippa a lot more childish and certain events that transpired seemed kind of pointless. I know I should be taking this book with a pinch of salt because of who it's aimed at, but I actually did enjoy the first book, so this one didn't live up to the expectations I had set. The fact that, again, Philippa was questioning Daisy's friendship in the beginning or whether she was just a job again kind of hacked me off. Like... did we not go through and establish this in the first book? Robyn was kind of a weird character to me, and I really didn't like her dad. Robyn was sad due to her mother's passing, which is fair enough, but she just seemed like her character wasn't entirely there, the opposite of Daisy, and therefore seemed a bit more two-dimentional. I loved that Daisy was given a more important job in this book, because I really did like her, and I'm glad that she played more of a key part in the book, even under the unfortunate circumstances. The language was simple, which may have something to do with the reason I didn't enjoy it, but it could also be that I'm cynical and don't believe such childlike joy can exist in this world. I'm sure that if I was a few years younger, I would have enjoyed this book, but even so, I would have enjoyed it less than the first one.

[Suzanne]

My 10 year old loved this book just as much as the first and is looking forward to the third book. The story in this book was definitely way less predictable and my daughter never wanted me to put it down. I couldn’t even predict what the twists would be until near the end. There are more scary parts (mostly in dream form) that made it hard for me to find a good place to stop reading each night. I didn’t want my daughter to have nightmares after all the talk about nightmares. Although this book was more surprising, I didn’t think it was as fun as the first. It’s a little more focused on sadness and the lessons were not as relatable. Overall 4 stars.

[Bridget Moore]

This book was not as great as the first one, but I do think that the idea was there. It had some suspense to it and my daughter wanted to continue reading at some cliff hangers.

The author should have given a bit of a better background to what happened in the first book-at least with the ATC acronyms and such. I couldn't remember them and had to wait until the end to see what it meant again.

I think this book had a darker side to it than the first.

[Twyla]

My favorite part was when Robyn started to believe in fairies again and was no longer angry and Philippa. My least favorite part was when Philippa was caught snooping in Mr. Fairweather's office by Robyn, and Robyn got mad at her and told her to leave, because Robyn wouldn't listen to what Philippa was saying.

[WMTL Kids]

I really like this book because I like how the author tells you a lot about the characters emotions. I can feel exactly what they feel just by reading the book. I like how the author includes other characters perspectives. The author describes things in the book really well and gives things a lot of details. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy,but also likes heavier plots.

[Bradley]

As I read to my daughter, she learned about the complexities of friendship. I learned more about how a parent can influence a child’s navigating through grief and loss. Pretty much what one would expect from a book about fairies

[C.J. Miller]

The ending was confusing, and I felt like it left us hanging on a few issues. Not great closure for the characters, which I expect in a middle grade novel.

[Grace Perryman]

Insane. Highly recommend.

[Belinda]

Cute

[Gabrilla]

good

[Juanita]

Fun little book to read

[Faith]

My childhood

[H Loose]

I really liked this book!

[Lexi]

"Beautiful"

[Laura Rent]

This is a great book I love it! I'm in the middle of the book and it is wonderful.Best book ever.

[R Brewer]

it was not i was thinking but great book

[Chloe Westfall]

It was not the best

[teagan ˖ ࣪⭑&#x1fa70;]

I don’t remember a lot about this book but I remember loving it as a kid

[Lucy Klocek]

It was amazing. There was a question and then another and then another and then another and then another and then another. Then there was a answer and then another and then another and then another and then another and then another. It was entrancing and mysterious.