Aziza’s Secret Fairy Door

Lola Morayo's Aziza's Secret Fairy Door is a sparkly, funny fairy adventure for 6 year olds about a girl who shrinks through a tiny door she made herself.

What happens

It's Aziza's birthday, and a mystery parcel arrives with her name on it. No stamps, no note. Inside is a make-your-own fairy door kit, and Aziza LOVES fairies. She works on it all day. It still ends up wonky and smudged, which she's quite cross about.

That night the little door starts knocking. Aziza turns the stick-on gem doorknob and shrinks, sprouts orange and black butterfly wings and steps out into Shimmerton. It's a magical town with a unicorn shopkeeper in a tank top, an ogre with a pet porcupine and a bakery selling cakes that look like salad.

Straight away she runs into the Gigglers, three fairies helping themselves to toys from the shop's storeroom. Kendra, the bossiest, pulls the jewelled knob right off Aziza's door, and the door seals up flat. No doorknob, no way home.

So Aziza teams up with Princess Peri (who thinks being a princess is super boring) and Tiko, a shy, furry shapeshifter who hasn't quite got the hang of it. His attempts are some of the funniest bits. He tries to turn into a mouse and comes out as a fire rat!

Aziza is a brilliant heroine for this age. She's brave enough to tell a group of fairies that stealing is wrong, and she's a proper little detective, following a trail of dropped marbles across town. When her flying goes wrong, she has to learn to let go of her worries to get off the ground.

The grown-ups in Shimmerton never believe the Gigglers could be naughty, because they're always so sweet to adults. Has your reader ever watched another child charm the teachers and get away with it? They'll be cheering Aziza on.

What to read next

If this one goes down well, Aziza's back in Shimmerton for Peri's birthday party in the Birthday Present Disaster, where some very special presents go missing.