Mummy Fairy and Me 3 – Unicorn Wishes

Sophie Kinsella's Unicorn Wishes is a giggly set of fairy stories for 5 year olds, all about a mum whose spells hardly ever come out right.

What happens

It's the third Mummy Fairy and Me book. With a stamp, a clap and a wiggle of her bottom, Ella's mum turns into a fairy. Ella can't do magic until she's grown up, but she already knows her first spell. A unicorn of her very own!

One thing to know first. This is the American edition, so Ella calls her Mom and she's Fairy Mom on the page (the UK books call her Mummy). You'll spot the odd "diaper" and "math" too.

There are four stories and every one hangs on a spell. On Be on Time Day, Fairy Mom makes the car invisible and flies it over a traffic jam. Then it lands in the wrong field. With a bull in it.

A playdate needs spaghetti and the spaghetti spell won't stop. Soon it's hanging off the lampshade and baby Ollie is rolling in it like a giant meatball.

At a picnic, Aunty Jo shows off her twirling spell just as a rainbow comes out. Suddenly the sheep, the pigs and the horses are all doing ballet. Who knew a pig could look so good in ballet shoes?

Then a new fairy app starts reading the wrong mind. Ella's! Which is how a real unicorn ends up in the kitchen (along with kittens, a chocolate fountain and a merry-go-round).

It's Ella telling the stories, and she doesn't hide how she feels. She REALLY wants the shiny sticker. She's cross when Zoe from next door says her family is weird.

A lot of the fun is in the bits that keep coming back. Every spell goes bleep-bleep-bloop. Ollie shouts "Weezi-weezi-weezi!" at the worst moments. Little ones will probably be joining in by the second story.

There are gentle ideas tucked in too, about practising rather than wishing and about Bad Magic (spells used to be lazy or mean). The last story has a few spooky seconds, with a dinosaur's eye at the window and a hissing snake. It doesn't last long.

If you've got a reader who loves it when the grown-up is the one making the mess, this is a lovely one to share.

What to read next

New to Ella and her family? Go back to the very first Mummy Fairy and Me book. That's where you meet everyone, and where a spell for more milk magics up a cow instead.