Summer the Holiday Fairy

Daisy Meadows' Summer the Holiday Fairy is a sunny seaside Rainbow Magic adventure for 5 year olds, with three magic shells to win back from Jack Frost.

What happens

Rachel and Kirsty are heading back to Rainspell Island, the place where they first met the fairies. They can't wait for ice cream, swimming and rock pools. But when they arrive, the beach has no sand, the ice cream melts into salty soup and everyone looks glum.

Jack Frost has pinched all the sand and shells to build himself an enormous sandcastle palace. Worse, he's taken the three magic shells that make Rainspell such a perfect place for a holiday. One makes the food taste delicious, one looks after the wind and waves and one keeps the beaches sandy.

So the girls shrink to fairy size and set off to win them back, one shell at a time.

It's a good long adventure with lots of clever tricks. The girls fool a greedy goblin with the promise of ice cream (sprinkles and all). They swap a shell right under Jack Frost's nose. There are lovely animal helpers too, like Henry the grumpy hermit crab who's lost his shell and a sand beetle who digs secret tunnels.

Jack Frost is properly grumpy but never too scary. His goblins are more silly than frightening. They try to hold a sailing race on inflatable toys with beach towels for sails, and half of them end up in the sea!

One thing to know. The copy in the library is the American edition, so the fairy is called Joy the Summer Vacation Fairy inside the book, and it's "vacation", "mom" and "candy" all the way through. Little ones won't mind a bit, but it might puzzle a child who's expecting a fairy called Summer.

What to read next

If your little one loves a Rachel and Kirsty mission, Coco the Cupcake Fairy is another. This time Jack Frost is after every sweet treat going, and the girls have tickets for a tour of a treat factory.