Primrose and the Magic Snowglobe

The Fairy Chronicles #9

by J.H. Sweet

Inside you in the power to do anything

Even for magical creatures, a wish is an incredibly powerful thing!

None of the fairies at Madam Toad's Fairy Circle have ever heard of a gargoyle who couldn't sit still or a gremlin who liked fixing things instead of breaking them, or a dwarf who was giving away dwarf-secrets (for free)! What could have caused these magical creatures to act so strangely? And why do they all seem so much happier now?

Primrose must use her detective skills and the help of her fairy team to solve this one!

What if you discovered you had magical fairy powers? Meet the girls of The Fairy Chronicles, otherwise normal girls like you with special gifts. Their extraordinary adventures will change the world!

117 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that I’ve finished the first 13 books of this series, I’m going to go back to rate and review each one. I’ve not read beyond the first 13, and I don’t plan to. Because I yam who I yam and because this series is beloved from my childhood, I’m probably going to be more thorough than necessary for a relatively unknown series for seven-year-olds. These reviews will contain very mild spoilers – nothing beyond what is mentioned in the blurb on the back or on goodreads – unless otherwise stated.

3.25/5 stars

Primrose and the Magic Snowglobe starts out a bit differently than the other books thus far in the series. Every other book has started with a chapter about the main character, whereas this one begins with three (very) short chapters about magical creatures being kicked out of their communities, before having a chapter about Taylor (aka Primrose). The first chapter is about Burchard the Gargoyle, who is given the choice of either getting help from the fairies or getting fired from his role as a protector. His crime? He can’t sit still and wants to constantly walk about the rooftops. The second chapter follows Ripper, a gremlin who wishes to fix things, rather than conform to the gremlin way of breaking things. He seeks the fairies of his own accord, as other gremlins attempt to track him down and kill him. The third chapter is about Mr. Jones, a dwarf who is banished into exile because, against dwarf nature and culture, he keeps revealing well-kept secrets, including his own name.

Burchard, Ripper, and Mr. Jones all attend the next Fairy Circle, where Madam Toad tasks Primrose, Snapdragon (aka Bettina), and Luna (aka Hope) to solve the mystery of why these magical creatures are acting against their species’ natures. The girls are supervised by Madam Swallowtail (aka Mrs. Renquist), who is the mentor of Snapdragon, Primrose, and Primrose’s cousin, Hollyhock, and a sponsor of the local chapter of Girls Club.

As Madam Toad explains the issue at Fairy Circle, Luna (rightfully) questions why these differences are such a big deal, saying, “Maybe the dwarves, gargoyles, and gremlins just need to learn to be more accepting of others. Differences are good. No two fairies are the same, and that is what makes us strong as a group” (59). I was thinking the same thing (well, I was thinking the former. I don’t know that I’d say no two fairies are the same. There are certainly a lot with very similar personalities, though I guess they have different gifts and fairy spirits.), so I was glad that was brought up. Madam Toad agrees but points out these actions seemed involuntary and have had a negative impact on the three creatures. Her first point is valid but the second point doesn’t address the part of how maybe their communities should be more accepting.

Primrose leads this mission because one of her fairy gifts is the ability to solve mysteries. Every time this has been mentioned in past books, I’ve wanted to roll my eyes because she’s described as knowing who the criminal is in mystery books before the detective even has a clue. Her main trait is solving mysteries. Other than that, her personality is similar to a lot of the other fairies throughout the series. Not super notable. The book did have good messages about the importance of being your true self, accepting others, and the benefits of diverse perspectives, which we love to see. Like in Mimosa and the River of Wisdom, the plot felt a bit rushed in this one.

Various minor spoilery things that I liked in this book include:
- The return of Tara Larsen Chang as the series illustrator. There are some nice illustrations of Primrose, but this book doesn't have her best art
- Seeing Madam Toad as her human self
- The acknowledgment of religious holidays in winter other than Christmas. That’s a small thing, but I appreciated it
- Snapdragon being a fierce little fighter
- Primrose’s outburst about fire ants being an invasive species. That was just funny to me, but she’s not wrong!
- The little fact page at the back of the book about A Gargoyle named Dedo

Overall, a fine book with a very good message, but not a personal stand out for me.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our oldest is fairy-crazy. In fact today she is dressed up as Hayley The Rain Fairy (Weather Fairies, #7) for her school's celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday and the children's favorite books. She has been tearing through the various Rainbow Magic fairy series by Daisy Meadows and so I was happy to see her "branch-out" with these fairy tales. They are longer and a bit more complex than the others and I'm happy to see her reading skills increase. She was intimidated by this book at first, but it didn't take her that much longer to read it versus the Rainbow Magic fairy stories.

This story was an interesting tale about being different and ostracized for those differences. It brings up an interesting discussion topic - would you rather go on being different and live apart from the crowd or would you rather have the ability to become just like everybody else. I have enjoyed these books and we will certainly read more in the Fairy Chronicles series soon.

[Paige]

oops did not pick this one

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cover illustration is stupendous.

[Amelia Mapstone]

REALLY WANT FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!