Isadora Moon Gets in Trouble

Harriet Muncaster's Isadora Moon Gets in Trouble is a sparkly, funny story for 5 year olds about what happens when a bossy cousin has one idea too many.

What happens

Isadora is half-fairy, half-vampire, and today she's thrilled. Her witch fairy cousin Mirabelle is coming to stay for a whole week! Isadora has a dollhouse tea party all ready, with real teeny-tiny sandwiches.

Mirabelle has other plans. Why play with dolls when you could shrink yourselves and BE the dolls? One dab of her potion and the girls are whooshing down the dollhouse slide into an ice cream tub pool. It's glorious, until the potion wears off halfway down and Isadora squashes the slide flat.

Worse, Pink Rabbit (her toy, brought to life by her mum's magic) has jumped right into the potion. He's going to be tiny for days. And tomorrow everyone is bringing a pet into class.

So Mirabelle has another idea. A dragon! Just a little one. What's the worst that could happen?

Quite a lot, as it turns out. The dragon grows. It puffs out stars and glitter until the whole class is sneezing, and then it really gets going. Isadora ends up in the head teacher's office for the very first time.

Isadora tells the story herself, and she's so easy to love. She's a bit shy and a bit of a worrier, and she goes along with things she knows are a bad idea because Mirabelle is older and exciting. Lots of children will know exactly how that feels.

What I really like is how honest it is about fibbing. Isadora hates telling her mum and dad little lies, and you can feel her squirm every time. When it all comes out, her parents are kind but clear, and the message (stand up for yourself) lands gently.

Her dad is a treat too. He's a vampire who fusses about his hair and is horrified to find something has slobbered on his slippers.

What to read next

If you haven't met Isadora yet, go back to Isadora Moon Goes to School, where she has to work out whether a vampire-fairy belongs at fairy school or vampire school.