No one is better at taking care of little kids than Bailey the Babysitter Fairy. She makes the best snacks, reads the best bedtime stories, and comes up with the best games. But when Rachel and Kirsty meet her, Bailey is having her worst day yet. Goblins have stolen her magical items and the Fairyland Nursery is in chaos!
Rachel and Kirsty want to help! If they can't find Bailey's magical items, babysitting will never be the same. Jack Frost's bad mood is making everyone cranky--it's up to the girls to turn frowns upside down!
Find the magic objects in all three stories inside this Rainbow Magic™ Special Edition and help save the babysitting magic!
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.
I am on a quest to become knowledgeable about children's fantasy literature. And I could never make that claim without reading the hugely popular Daisy Meadows Rainbow Magic series. There are over 200 of them. I read seven, and since they all have the same plot, I feel I have done my duty. I read Bailey the Babysitter Fairy most recently.
Plot of all of them: Rachel and Kirsty, BFFs, must help _____ [insert female name] the ______ [insert noun] Fairy to recover her magic ________[insert item type]. The nasty goblins have stolen it! She cannot do her important work without it, which causes lots of problems in the human and fairy worlds. Since this conveniently never occurs on a school day, Rachel and Kirsty cheerfully set to work recovering it. At some point in the story they briefly transform into fairies and there is a chase/action scene. They outsmart the foolish goblins, recover the item. No violence ever occurs. The _____ Fairy is grateful and all is well again. Hurray!
The goblins, who are always male, seem to be based on boys who sit at the back of the classroom making trouble because they are bored. The fairies, always female, are very responsible and kind, as are Rachel and Kirstie. They are always optimistic, never argue, and always strive to do the right thing.
I was puzzled for a while about the fairy's reproductive cycle. At first I thought perhaps that magical cloning is involved. But now I lean toward a theory that fairies and gnomes are actually the same species. I suspect they are similar to social insects, such as honeybees. There's a queen/mother, some male drones that get in the way (aka goblins), and a bunch of helpful female worker bees (aka fairies). There is also a fairy king and a couple of princes. I don't know how they fit in. Maybe, when a goblin and a fairy fall in love, he is transformed into a more presentable appearance. Like Beauty and the Beast.
I cannot decide how many stars to give this. I got great enjoyment from reading it (5 stars?) but not for any of the reasons the Daisy Meadow team intended. (1 star?) So it shall remain starless.
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!