Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Fairy Ponies #1

The Midnight Escape

Rate this book
Explore wonderful stories about a group of fairy ponies and a little girl called Holly, full of magic and adventure!

This highly collectible series includes six books that provide huge girl appear with the irresistible combination of ponies, fairies, and a magical secret world. The Fairy Ponies series is part of the Usborne Reading Programme developed with reading experts at the University of Roehampton.

95 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2014

8 people are currently reading
138 people want to read

About the author

Zanna Davidson

102 books52 followers
Zanna Davidson (also writing under the name Susanna Davidson) has been writing children's books for Usborne for nearly 20 years. She likes dogs, books and climbing trees. Follow Zanna on Instagram and Twitter at @ZannaDavidson

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
108 (44%)
4 stars
77 (31%)
3 stars
41 (16%)
2 stars
15 (6%)
1 star
4 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
Profile Image for Bookread2day.
2,580 reviews63 followers
June 2, 2025
This book is a must read for all little girls.

I am an adult that just loved the beautiful map of Fairy Pony Island. The story captured my heart.

When I was a little girl I loved everything about fairies, having my own big hardback fairy books.

Fairy Ponies Midnight escape is the first book in a fantasy 10 book brilliant collection.

When Holly stays at her great-aunt’s house, Holly’s dreams about magical fairy ponies come true.

The two sisters who live near her aunt are horrible to Holly. One of the girls snatched a fairy pony from Holly.

Two fairy ponies fly into Hollys bedroom, they need Holly to help rescue Puck, a young fairy pony from the neighbours house. Lucky Holly will enter the home to where all the fairy ponies live.

Fairy Ponies collection is a magical present for any little girl.

I think I need the whole collection too.
Profile Image for Rebecca Mikulin.
5 reviews1 follower
August 2, 2016
My rather precocious 5-year-old kept getting bored of all the books that are recommended for her age group, so I picked up Fairy Ponies at a friend's Usborne book party. She LOVED it, and has since added her own imaginative tales to the story and renamed a number of her toy ponies to act out the story. It's a good level for about ages 5-8.

Fairy Ponies: Midnight Escape tells of Holly, a lonely girl who is staying with her aunt for the summer. She really wants to ride the horses next door, but they're owned by Cressida, a stuck-up and mean-spirited girl who takes an instant dislike to Holly. She's doomed to spend a summer in isolation until she spots something really strange in the garden -- a tiny little pony with fairy wings. Soon after she gets to know other fairy ponies, she has to magically shrink down to help them rescue Puck, the pony she found in the garden, after Cressida captures him and tries to keep him for a pet.

That's the end of this story -- intro, daring rescue, and hints about the next piece. My daughter liked it so much that I already bought the second in the series, in which Holly visits the magical home of all the fairy ponies and meets their queen. Overall, a very good story for younger kids who really like horses and/or fairies.
Profile Image for Whitney.
415 reviews5 followers
September 27, 2016
Read by Norah. She can't wait to read the next book, and I actually kinda liked it too. The illustrations are pretty.
Profile Image for Lucas Williams.
24 reviews
Read
January 22, 2026
My girls were SUCKED into this freaking story. The literal definition of everything toddler girls want in a chapter book. I’m sure we’ll be devouring the rest of this series and hearing more about Hollie’s adventures with the magical fairy ponies. Stay tuned.
47 reviews1 follower
May 28, 2016
My 7 year old really enjoyed this. She said it was very exciting. She had me read it so we could talk about it.

I can't find the reading level in my usual places to find reading level. I'd guess maybe 3rd grade reading level. maybe early 4th, but probably 3rd grade.

It does have many little girl interests thrown into one story--horses, fairies, magic, adventure. Many fairy books lack adventure, and my daughter finds them boring. This book is adventurous.

It mentions horse breeds. So it offers opportunity for the child to learn some facts. My daughter is wanting to learn about horses in general.

I recommend it for the younger than third grade, as well as the third grader. Whether it is a read-aloud or for the advance reader.
Profile Image for Cute Rabbit.
245 reviews
August 13, 2024
This book was amazing!I loves how Holly is very kind and very helpful in this book.In it Holly goes to see are great aunt but find that the people that live next door have ponies.When she goes to ask then to have a ride on their ponies they be mean to her and say no.Then Holly spots something like a butterfly on the floor but she is mistaken when she finds out that it is a fairy pony.
But one of the next door people take is away and say it is theirs Holly is very sad and thinks she was dreaming about fairy ponies and then later that night she meets bluebell and dancer who have come to get puck who was the fairy pony taken by the next door people.They go on a mission to save him and in the end Holly is given a pouch and bell by the fairy pony queen and she is able to visit pony island whenever she wants!😊
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Efox.
792 reviews
January 3, 2022
A Christmas purchase for my newly minted 4 year old who wanted to have a pony birthday party but then described everything she wanted in terms of unicorns. I have not had much luck keeping my own interest in her interest in fairy books (see the real bust Julia the Sleeping Beauty Fairy) but I thought I would give these a go - because ponies!

This one was pretty good! The story is about Holly and her holiday at her Great Aunt's house. She loves horses and is snubbed by the next door neighbor's mean girl but finds out there are actual fairy ponies that need her help. I didn't love the mean girl stuff, but I did like that Holly figured things out for herself, was pretty bold and took charge of things. Also, the story was pretty exciting and set up nicely for follow along adventures (which I look forward to reading in 2022!)
Profile Image for Victoria Austen.
238 reviews17 followers
September 12, 2019
My daughter loves the first series with Unicorns but this did not quite hit home. The ending was strange and rushed which my daughter agreed on too. Hopefully the rest in this Pony series will be more on par with the first series in its structure. A huge plus on the fact that my daughters name is Holly and the protagonist is named Holly as well. That brought it up from a 2 to a 3 star review.
Profile Image for Brooke.
481 reviews19 followers
January 13, 2018
Wonderful read aloud for my six year old daughter - she was so excited while we were reading about main character Holly, that she was shaking! She loved it and I very much enjoyed reading it to her.
Profile Image for Emily.
16 reviews1 follower
January 4, 2019
Read the whole series aloud to my five-year-old. Personally, I hated them by the time we got through book 6, and I hope I never have to say the word “sparkles” again, but my daughter thinks they’re great and kept begging for more so I’m giving four stars on her behalf.
65 reviews1 follower
January 5, 2019
My 4 year old loved this so much we read the whole thing in 1 sitting. 4 stars bc while I enjoyed it, I’d rather read something else haha. It’s very cute and I would definitely recommend for little girls or horse loving boys.
Profile Image for Victoria Schmidt.
132 reviews5 followers
May 28, 2022
This series is kind of a prequel to Fairy Unicorns. They can be read independently of each other but this series seems to fill in some of the holes of the other. Anyway, my daughter and I really enjoyed it. So far I think it's our favorite from this author.
Profile Image for Emmie Seals.
Author 4 books3 followers
August 3, 2022
I just finished reading this aloud with my 7 year old. The is imaginative, adventurous, kept her entertained and asking for another chapter, and was beautifully sprinkled with illustrations on multiple pages. This is a wonderful early chapter book and we look forward to book #2!
Profile Image for Julia.
76 reviews1 follower
November 25, 2025
Zanna Davidson's Fairy Ponies series ticks all the boxes: compelling, fast-paced stories with wonderful illustrations and a beautiful hard-cover format with a ribbon bookmark. My daughter can't get enough!
6 reviews
May 20, 2017
I liked the part where the girl took the fairy pony away.
80 reviews1 follower
July 21, 2017
My granddaughter asked me to read this. I would recommend this for 2nd- and 3rd-grade girls especially.
Profile Image for Allison .
43 reviews
May 18, 2018
I loved when Puck and Holly escaped the house that a girl locked them in. It was a dollhouse and they got out of the real house that the dollhouse was in.
Profile Image for Cassie C..
75 reviews16 followers
February 6, 2020
My daughter loved this book. Now it's time to read all of them!
Profile Image for Cassie C..
75 reviews16 followers
May 18, 2020
My 7 years old daughter and I read this book together. It was super cute and she did not want to stop reading.
19 reviews2 followers
May 2, 2021
"Den förtrollade ponnyön" heter boken på svenska.
2 reviews1 follower
July 8, 2021
My six year old loves this book.
Profile Image for Kandi.
2 reviews2 followers
May 11, 2022
Read with my daughter. Fun bonding time
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.