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The Sporty Fairies #5

Samantha the Swimming Fairy

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Everyone in Fairyland is preparing for the Fairy Olympics, but Jack Frost and his goblins have stolen the magic sporty items so they can win by cheating! Samantha the Swimming Fairy is desperate to get her Magic Goggles back from the goblins - can Rachel and Kirsty help?

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

50 people are currently reading
632 people want to read

About the author

Daisy Meadows

1,108 books728 followers
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.

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5 stars
332 (49%)
4 stars
147 (21%)
3 stars
131 (19%)
2 stars
35 (5%)
1 star
30 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
Profile Image for Ayla :).
13 reviews4 followers
February 17, 2022
not good >:(((( worse in french but the nostalgia
Profile Image for Macy Rose.
5 reviews1 follower
June 26, 2015
Awesome swimming is my favorite sport i liked it so much.
Profile Image for Chiara.
139 reviews
February 9, 2016
In a hot day the girls want to swim. But all pools are closed! some mischief is at work. Samantha senses her goggles are nearby, but actually someone is wearing them.
Profile Image for Amanda .
596 reviews
October 17, 2010
There isn't a damn thing to recommend this book other than that my daughter loved it. It's characters are dull and boring. The plot and vocabulary is so predictable as to put you asleep. The concept is enough to make you wish you were 8 and naive again. But, hell, is this so bad if you are a nice girl in 3rd grade? I think not.
107 reviews
April 2, 2017
I liked it when the goblin tricked the lifeguard by pretending that he was sinking so that he could steal the lifeguard's magic goggles.
Profile Image for The Dragon Den Book Blog.
2,967 reviews66 followers
November 13, 2022
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!
Profile Image for Nicola.
3,640 reviews
January 16, 2019
The Sporty Fairies (U.S name: Sports Fairies) are the 9th series. The Sporty Fairies are responsible for making sure that everyone in fairy land and the human world have fun playing sports. They each have a magic item (related to their sport) and when the goblins steal them this makes sports more difficult for everyone. Not good when the Fairyland Olympics are due to start and kids everywhere are on school holidays.

There are seven Sporty fairies and they are: Helena the Horseriding Fairy, Francesca the Football Fairy, Zoe the Skating Fairy, Naomi the Netball Fairy, Samantha the Swimming Fairy, Alice the Tennis Fairy and Gemma the Gymnastics Fairy.

Action takes place around Tippington Town with Kirsty staying with Rachel.
Profile Image for Kenzie.
110 reviews2 followers
October 26, 2020
I got this book to see if it was actually a sport series (within a series, admittedly). It's not. The bulk of the book takes place at a pool and the conflict centers on a pair of stolen goggles, but other than that and a couple descriptive paragraphs where goblins are synchronized swimming, this book has nothing to do with the sport itself. If you are hoping to find sports, go somewhere else. If you're looking for basic plot and entertainment (let's be fair, this is a lower grades chapter book), this will work fine. It's not likely to stand among favorites, though.
Profile Image for Sean Harding.
5,793 reviews33 followers
September 17, 2022
Samantha is not a witch married to a mortal here but a fairy who swims apparently without steroids although there is always some idea of magic powers in these books which maybe a symbolism for drugs in sport!!
Anyway before we court too much controversy everyone dies in the end of this one and they stopped writing them.
Nothing in the above sentence is true although it is more exciting than the actual book
Profile Image for Kylie Abecca.
Author 9 books42 followers
July 4, 2020
Despite the dangers of Jack Frost and his goblins, this book had a fun feel to it from first page to last.
Profile Image for Natali.
564 reviews406 followers
Read
November 10, 2022
Read dozens of these to my daughters. You can finish them in 1-2 days. They’re formulaic but the kids still love them.
12 reviews2 followers
May 11, 2023
There were goblins and fairies in the pool . practicing for fairy Olympic
Profile Image for Sam.
405 reviews
February 7, 2024
My daughter loves these books. I read this after her and it's cute, but not as cute as some of the others in this series.
Profile Image for Kat.
256 reviews
January 3, 2025
my childhood!! I think this used to be one of my favourites in the series
Profile Image for Anna Maria.
185 reviews
August 7, 2025
The goblins have stolen Samantha the swimming Fairy's magic goggles, so everyone is finding it really tricky to swim well! How can Kirsty & Rachel help?
Profile Image for Vivian Siddoway.
16 reviews
June 27, 2024
Age 8
I liked it when the girls found Samantha and they thought of a plan. Then when they caught the goblin in a tube.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Hannah.
128 reviews1 follower
May 15, 2022
To be honest, I did love this book when I was in the right age range for it. However, the writing style was over simplistic and would not challenge anyone over the age of five (thus including most of those reading). It did nothing to further the story or engage the reader and there were few examples of extended vocabulary.
The characters were incredibly dull. Samantha had literally nothing going for her which given she is the eponymous character isn't too great. Kirsty did seem a bit quieter and more reserved than Rachel but that was really the only difference between them. The goblins probably had the most personality which really wasn't that much.
The plot did have direction and was really the saving factor of the book. It was definitely predictable but at least there were some original elements.
Kirsty and Rachel's outfits in this book were great and I also loved their matching swim suits. Samantha is definitely one of my favourite fairies aesthetically and her outfit worked well both on the front cover and in the illustrations.
I would give this a lower rating based purely on quality but given the age range it's aimed at it's not the worst. Despite this I still feel that more diverse vocabulary could have been used to extend children's knowledge and some more interesting stylistic choices could have been made.
Profile Image for Dolly.
Author 1 book670 followers
September 11, 2011
This is the fifth book of seven in the Sports Fairies series by the group of authors who go by the name Daisy Meadows. It's a fun series, especially for young girls who are starting to read chapter books. Our oldest is addicted and will often read several in one day! This series has a sports theme and I like that it encourages girls to be active and try new sports.

I have read so many of these books that I must admit I've become immune to their silliness. I love that I can read them after she does and discuss the plots and her thoughts about the story and about what will happen next in the series. We will certainly read more of these books as long as they are still being written. I will always be thankful that this is one series that helped her to develop a love for reading.

May 2012 update: our youngest is now immersing herself in this series and is reading them very quickly, too. As inane as I thought they were, I love that this series is making readers of our girls. Hooray!
Profile Image for Cecelia.
164 reviews6 followers
October 1, 2015
Rachel and Kristy take the bus to Tippington Pool. They find goblins with the magic goggles there. Samantha the Swimming Fairy is there and she helps Rachel and Kristy get the goggles back. Samantha uses magic to make a tube and she puts it at the bottom of the water slide. The goblin with the magic goggles was coming down the slide. He went right through the tube but then he got stuck. His arms were trapped to his sides. Samantha easily takes the goggles right off his head.
12 reviews
December 31, 2015
L O V E

I love this book because it is super funny and it makes me want to go swimming! I am on a swim team and I was never as bad as the goblins were at swimming! I recommend this book to any swim lovers!
25 reviews
July 20, 2010
amazing
a faboulous tale of a fairy who saves the day.
16 reviews
July 8, 2012
Really easy books but there quiet good ai?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews

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