Bethany the Ballet Fairy

The Dance Fairies #1

by Daisy Meadows

Jack Frost's naughty goblins have stolen the Dance Fairies' magic ribbons and are hiding in the human world. Everywhere dance is being ruined! Rachel and Kirsty must help Bethany but the goblins' new powers won't make it easy...

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fairies, Fiction, Chapter Books, Magic, Adventure

80 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

Daisy Meadows is the pseudonym used for the four writers of the Rainbow Magic children's series: Narinder Dhami, Sue Bentley, Linda Chapman, and Sue Mongredien. Rainbow Magic features differing groups of fairies as main characters, including the Jewel fairies, Weather fairies, Pet fairies, Petal fairies, and Sporty fairies.

Narinder Dhami was born in Wolverhampton, England on November 15, 1958. She received a degree in English from Birmingham University in 1980. After having taught in primary and secondary schools for several years she began to write full-time. Dhami has published many retellings of popular Disney stories and wrote the Animal Stars and Babes series, the latter about young British girls of Asian origin. She lives in Cambridge, England with her husband and cats.

Sue Bentley was born in Northampton, England. She worked in a library after completing her education and began writing for children once her own began school. Bentley is the author of the Magic Kitten, Magic Puppy, and S Club series and lives in Northamptonshire.

Linda Chapman has written over 50 children's fiction books, including the following series: My Secret Unicorn, Stardust, Not Quite a Mermaid, and Unicorn School. She lives in Leicestershire with her husband and daughters.

Sue Mongredien was born in 1970 and grew up in Nottingham, England. She has published over 100 children's books, including the following series: The Adventures of Captain Pugwash, The Magic Key, Frightful Families, and Oliver Moon. She has also contributed many titles to the Sleepover Club series and written picture books. Mongredien created the Royal Ballet School Diaries under the pen name Alexandra Moss. She lives with her family in Bath, England.

Reviews

[ella nelson]

the dance series was the best fight me

[RLL 220 Selena Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bethany the Ballet Fairy is a book in a series. This book starts off with two friends having a very ordinary conversation with each other on a train, very excited to be on their way to watch a ballet they had never seen before. While riding the train Kristy see's Bethany and six other fairies. She alerts her friend Rachel of the fairies. The girls soon finds out that the fairies need there help. They are magically wist into fairy land to let the King and Queen know what is going on and to help get the fairies ribbons back. After getting information from fairy land they found they actual had to go back to human land in order to get all seven of the fairies ribbons back. So they went back to human land and found the ribbon that belong to Bethany. Magic was not used to solve the problem. The girls and the fairy had to think of a clever way to get the ribbon back. When they did the fairy was able to use her magic to aid in the mechanics of what needed to be done. They got the ribbon back! The book ends by giving you taste of the next book in the series (getting the next ribbon back).

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for ages 1st-4th grade. I believe the book can be considered high fantasy because of the alternate world created. It had very realistic human characters, with dwelling with situations that could happen and situations that can not possible happen, details were consisted though out both worlds. This book had the elements of a good fantasy gook.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This doesn't have much of a plot

[Beth Tamaray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would have to be one of my all-time favourite books out of this series. A really good read. I recommend reading it to your children.

[Iris Choi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learnt that we should help people if they need our help.

I like this book because rachel and Kirsty help Bathany the ballet fairy find her magic ribbon.

[Claire :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first chapter book as 7 years old! I am a dancer in ballet , tap and jazz and this whole dance collection is good.

[Madeline W · Rating 3 out of 5]

REVIEW: Bethany the Ballet Fairy (Rainbow Magic: Dance Fairies, #1), Daisy Meadows
RATING: 3/5 stars

The Stow library summer reading program measures your progress by number of books instead of by minutes, so you know what that means: it's time for children's books again so I can fulfill my completionist dreams!

I am slightly ashamed but mostly impressed that this is also my 50th book of the year, which means that I successfully completed my reading challenge. Hooray.

Anyway, this might be a juvenile text of less than 100 pages that I just picked because it was short and on my bookshelf. But because this is such a momentous occasion, it gets its own review.

The first interesting thing to note about Rainbow Magic in general is that it was written by four people. This automatically brings into question issues of continuity in both plot and writing style, but since I am reviewing an isolated book, it is difficult to take the matter deeply into account. I would say for children's literature in general that it matters less if multiple authors are involved. That being said, the pseudonym Daisy Meadows was so painfully obvious even to myself as a child that I was able to discern the false nature by the age of approximately seven. That has nothing to do with the quality of this book, but I do think it would have been more worthwhile to have one author do all the books and just work to promote quality. The fact that there are over 200 books in this series simply marks it as a cash grab, in my opinion.

As far as the actual text, I thought that the overuse of "said" alternatives and adverbs was irritating. Children are able to discern more from texts than you realize, especially with featured illustrations. The magic system also makes no sense, especially with the spell wearing off but other people seemingly not being effected. However, the fact that the king and queen were actually Titania and Oberon had me keeled over as an adult. Watching the goblin dance onstage in a tutu was also incredibly amusing beyond what I would anticipate. I've read adult books less funny than that one scene alone.

This book speaks to the pressures of exploitation, wherein the ribbons would not have been stolen if the goblins were able to adequately display dancing capabilities for Jack Frost. I'm tempted to find the rest of the dance fairy books just to see what happens to the Ice GoblinsTM. Also, I might need to steal ice goblins for D&D.

[The Dragon Den Book Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daisy Meadows and her fairies are my childhood. I collected so many in my youth, knowing all the fairies and their importance, and sticking with the two special girls who go to be a part of the magic.
Years ago I had to give my beautiful collection away, now still part of my childhood school where little girls are picking their favourite fairies and playing pretend. It's fun to hear stories from my old teachers telling me how over the years so many students have grabbed these books and fallen in love with the tales of two girls, Jack Frost and the fabulous glittering magic that is the fairies.
On Christmas last year, my sister surprised me with a boxset of these books, but cause you cannot collect these darlings as easily anymore. I was over the moon!
If anyone has a little one who needs a little magic in their life, wants to read and needs a big creation to be hooked on...it is Daisy Meadows!

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are seven Dance fairies and they are: Bethany the Ballet Fairy, Jade the Disco Fairy, Rebecca the Rock 'n' Roll Fairy, Tasha the Tap Dance Fairy, Jessica the Jazz Fairy, Saskia the Salsa Fairy and Imogen the Ice Dance Fairy. Their magic ribbons are needed to help people dance properly. The goblins are drawn to music that matches their ribbon and feel the need to dance. They also temporarily gain ice magic and ability to freeze people. Rachel is staying with Kirsty again and they need to help the fairies!

Hold tight to the ribbons, please.
You goblins now may feel a breeze.
I'm summoning a hurricane.
To take the ribbons away again.
But, goblins, you'll be swept up too,
For I have work for you to do.
Guard each ribbon carefully,
By using this new power to freeze.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before I review - Please Mr or Mrs Goodreads I'm not a robot, I'm not sure how many times I have to declare I'm not a robot but can you amend the need to ask every time I post a review!!
Anyway if you have read one of these books you have read this one, so if you want to read that one again, knock yourself out and read this one, or well any other one I guess.

[Kylie Abecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book either by itself or the series for young readers just beginning to read alone.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ballet is the easiest dance to mess up so..

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super great book

[Natali]

Read dozens of these to my daughters. You can finish them in 1-2 days. They’re formulaic but the kids still love them.

[Saimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Den var bra😎

[Keira Mc · Rating 3 out of 5]

In first grade I feverishly read at least the first 50 of these books. I think I read every one the school library had

[Ghost · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing book to read I read them as a kid and it was the reason why I started to read books and very easy to read if your dyslexic like myself

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot is shallow but my 6-yr-old daughter enjoyed it well enough.

[Emma Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have to read this book it is amazing you have to read it now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cecelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dance Fairies lost their magic ribbons. Jack Frost stole them. Rachel and Kristy had to help Bethany find her ribbon. They were on the train and Kristy saw an icy wind that had all seven dance fairies in it. The fairies took Rachel and Kristy to Fairy Land to explain that all the ribbons were missing. Rachel and Kristy were going to a dance. It was a ballet and none of the dancers could move because one of Jack Frost's goblins was there with the ballet ribbon and he had power to freeze them. The freeze wore off after awhile but before it did, Rachel and Kristy and Bethany got the ribbon back by getting the goblin to go under the paper mache moon and then Bethany used her fairy magic to make the moon fall on him. He was weighed down by the paper mache so Kristy went over to untie the ribbon from his forehead. The goblin left to go back to Jack Frost's icy castle and the dancers were unfrozen. Bethany went back to Fairy Land with the ribbon and everything was all good again.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bethany was a ballet fairy. She had a ballet ribbon at the tip of her wand. All the other fairies had one too. The ribbons help everybody dance. Jack Frost and his goblins were having a dance party. They could not dance well at all! Jack Frost told the dance fairies to come over and have a lesson for them. They still did not do good at all. Then Jack Frost said, "NOW!" Then all the goblins took the ribbons by the tips of the wands. Then Bethany the Ballet fairy went to go tell the queen and all of them went over to Jack Frost. He looked out the window, he looked angry and he stuck his head back in and he cast a spell on the goblins and he sent them to our world. They scattered everywhere in our world and they wave around and nobody can dance well. Bethany drops down the paper moon in the ballet and startles the goblin and the ribbon falls off and she grabs it.

[Dolly · Rating 2 out of 5]

If it didn't take only five minutes to read this book, I wouldn't bother, but I'm still curious about the books our oldest is reading. She likes it, and it's not inappropriate, so I am encouraging her to read as many books in this series (The Dance Fairies) as she wants to. I'm not sure how many I can take, but at least they are very quick reads.

Nov 2011 update: our youngest is now immersing herself in this series and is reading them very quickly. Hooray!

[Cara Farmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I personally was not a huge fan of this book, but I know several little girls in the first grade that love them. It could have been a very cute story if the villain was not Jack Frost. I just felt like that was random and there was not really a reason. The idea is cute though. I would be interested to see how the other ones go and if they are better than this one.In the end this was not my favorite beginner chapter book.

[Alexandria K · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Rachel and Kirsty find out that Jack Frost stole the dance fairies dance ribbons. Now it's up to Rachel, Kirsty, and Bethany to get the ballet dance ribbon back. When Kirsty and Rachel find out that Jack Frost gave the goblins magical freezing powers while they have the ribbons Kirsty got touched by a goblin and froze.

[Nattlez]

This was honestly my favorite childhood book series. I read them during my elementary school days, and I'm trying to get my little sister to read them. My favorite books were the ones about the dance fairies. Legit, I read them at a way older age than was appropriate, but I mean, what does that matter? I strongly feel that they should be read more by the youngins of the world!

[Melissa Namba · Rating 3 out of 5]

the books establishing the story are better than the ones focused only on the chase. this time they are searching for dance ribbons and the goblins have the added ability of freezing people by pointing at then and saying freeze. the girls are attending the ballet and meet up with the fairies and of course time stands still while they are in fairy land.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read all the Rainbow Magic books available, so I haven't read them recently. I was so happy when this set came out at the library so I could start reading new ones again! I like the this book because I take ballet, which is her specialty.

[Abbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this from the book fair at school. It came with a necklace. I'm going to wear it a lot. I take ballet and I really liked the book because of the dance fairies and the ribbons. And the goblin dressed up as a ballerina. That was funny!