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The Fairy Godmother Academy #1
Birdie's Book
"Where do fairy godmothers come from? "When Birdie goes to visit her grandmother for the first time, she learns that her grandmother is a fairy godmother--whichmeans Birdie's a fairy godmother too Trained by fairies in a magical land called Aventurine, human fairy godmothers have been hidden protectors of the world for centuries. Birdie' s family talisman, a singing stone, hasbeen broken, and now only Birdie can use the stone to travel to Aventurine to repair it. When she gets there she meets Kerka, a warrior-like girl who has been sent to help her find the other half ofthe stone. Will Birdie and Kerka have the knowledge and strength to banish the shadow that has come over both the garden in Aventurine and Birdie's family? One thing's for sure--no one who travels to Aventurinewill ever be the same again For girls who are fans of Harry Potter and have outgrown the Disney Fairies series and the American Girl books, the Fairy Godmother Academy is the perfectseries--fantasy books filled with magic and adventure but grounded by contemporary girls and issues. The series boasts an amazing Web site that allows girls to enter the world they visit in thebooks. There they can do activities both on- and offline, vote for things they'd like to see in the books, and connect with other Fairy Godmother Academy fans. Join the Fairy GodmotherAcademy Visit the Web site for games, activities, and networking with friends www.fairygodmotheracademy.com "From the Trade Paperback edition."
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 18, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
March 9, 2021
3.5 rounded up
Read for a challenge and pleasantly surprised. Will continue the series
Read for a challenge and pleasantly surprised. Will continue the series
November 17, 2012
Jessica Mitchell, 11 years old
Birdie's Book
Jan Bozarth
I am totally reading the next book in the series! This story was a perfect combination of everything I like in a book; Suspense, family issues, fantasy, and a girl main character who has flaws, and isn't a goody-two-shoes perfect person.
I think the author, Jan Bozarth, did an amazing job describing how the regular, human world changed into the dreamland, Aventurine, where most of the story takes place.
There are only two reasons I gave this book 4 stars and not 5.
1: The beginning pretty much bored me to death! At the start Birdie was just going to her grandmas house, and, of course, you knew that whole time that something was going to happen there. So the whole time in your head you're thinking: 'Are we there yet? When is something good gonna happen?'
2: I wish the story went into more depth on the subject of Birdie's family falling apart. Yes, the ancient tree was rotting, and i guess that represented her whole family. But what does the tree have to do with anything? I know Birdie's mom went there as a kid, but that was just one lady.
But, overall, this was a great book. I'm going to the library soon to get the next one.
Birdie's Book
Jan Bozarth
I am totally reading the next book in the series! This story was a perfect combination of everything I like in a book; Suspense, family issues, fantasy, and a girl main character who has flaws, and isn't a goody-two-shoes perfect person.
I think the author, Jan Bozarth, did an amazing job describing how the regular, human world changed into the dreamland, Aventurine, where most of the story takes place.
There are only two reasons I gave this book 4 stars and not 5.
1: The beginning pretty much bored me to death! At the start Birdie was just going to her grandmas house, and, of course, you knew that whole time that something was going to happen there. So the whole time in your head you're thinking: 'Are we there yet? When is something good gonna happen?'
2: I wish the story went into more depth on the subject of Birdie's family falling apart. Yes, the ancient tree was rotting, and i guess that represented her whole family. But what does the tree have to do with anything? I know Birdie's mom went there as a kid, but that was just one lady.
But, overall, this was a great book. I'm going to the library soon to get the next one.
June 17, 2013
Birdie Cramer Bright is stuck in NYC when all she wants is green open places. She loves plants and knows everything about them. When she meets her Granny Mo for the first time, she discovers that a green thumb is a family trait that's far more important than she could've imagined. It's the family destiny that every girl in each generation is a fairy godmother. Now it's Birdie's turn to prove her worth and enter the realm of the fairies through her dream.
This was a refreshing change of pace for me. I don't often read children's books, but I'm glad that I picked up this one. It was fun and whimsical. A magical journey in an exotic fantasy land. Birdie's a sweet girl and brave. A good role model for young girls. I like the dose of reality in this. A rough move for Birdie to a big city from a California home that she loved. A distant mom that she feels doesn't understand her at all. The prospect of having to start at a new school. All of it was handled wonderfully.
I'd definitely recommend this to parents who have girls that love to read.
This was a refreshing change of pace for me. I don't often read children's books, but I'm glad that I picked up this one. It was fun and whimsical. A magical journey in an exotic fantasy land. Birdie's a sweet girl and brave. A good role model for young girls. I like the dose of reality in this. A rough move for Birdie to a big city from a California home that she loved. A distant mom that she feels doesn't understand her at all. The prospect of having to start at a new school. All of it was handled wonderfully.
I'd definitely recommend this to parents who have girls that love to read.
August 27, 2009
I'd highly recommend this book even if I weren't involved with this project! Here's the plug I wrote for Amazon:
As a teacher and a writer, I loved reading Birdie's Book, the first in the Fairy Godmother Academy Series. Birdie's challenge -- to save the natural world and to bring estranged family members together -- encourages all readers to look outside themselves and make a real world impact. In this age where community building is increasingly important, it's also great to see that there is a website that goes along with the series. Girls can sign up for a parent-approved, moderated social network, join their voice in the "Million Girl Choir" and make unique outfits for Fairy Godmother characters. I definitely recommend this book and website for parents and teachers of "tween" girls. But any sensitive reader will surely appreciate Birdie's story!
As a teacher and a writer, I loved reading Birdie's Book, the first in the Fairy Godmother Academy Series. Birdie's challenge -- to save the natural world and to bring estranged family members together -- encourages all readers to look outside themselves and make a real world impact. In this age where community building is increasingly important, it's also great to see that there is a website that goes along with the series. Girls can sign up for a parent-approved, moderated social network, join their voice in the "Million Girl Choir" and make unique outfits for Fairy Godmother characters. I definitely recommend this book and website for parents and teachers of "tween" girls. But any sensitive reader will surely appreciate Birdie's story!
February 1, 2011
I really tried to like this book--which had a lot of potential--but was thoroughly disappointed. I saw the second book in the series on a recommend table (which space I'm convinced was bought, not independently chosen on any merit) so I thought perhaps I should start with the first. From the beginning I was disappointed in the juvenile, stilted and unpracticed writing style. There was so much potential for this book that it feels wasted on being the "first book." It should have waited in the incubation tank a little longer.
March 11, 2014
I was young when I read this, and I loved it. I loved the magic and surprise, and I was a huge fan of the first book. Then I returned it to the Library, and forgot the name. I read the description and I knew it was the book I had loved. I was delighted to read it as a child. I'd definately say it's not just for eight-year-olds.
September 4, 2014
A delightful, well-written book; however, I would like to add that it really is for a younger audience than is hinted at in its description. The story was short and overly simplistic for a teen audience, but quite beautifully detailed and well-told.
November 11, 2010
The first of a series but I didn't find it well-written or compelling enough to seek out more.
October 13, 2013
Cute and fun. I really enjoyed it. A very fluffy read, but that's what I wanted.
October 12, 2015
This book is difficult for me to rate here, as the quality of the story is so very uneven - making it a 3.0, at best. The story hooked me right away, creating both the most lovely fantasy and real book settings I've probably ever encountered. As a life-long lover of nature, beauty, and gardens (especially flower gardens), the biologic language of flowers and plants, along with the visual splendor of Mo's gardens and the dream fairy world (Aventurine), captured my imagination in ways few books have ever done. Just like Birdie, I couldn't help but be attracted to Mo and the notion of chains of "fairy godmothers", as well.
Then, the book's technical writing flaws began to become so blatant, they started interrupting my enjoyment of the story. Time and again, without any attempt at explanation, each of the book's protagonists would just somehow "know" something and act on that sudden eruption of "knowledge" without any explanation of where it all came from. Some readers might generously label those episodes as "intuitions" but intuition is based on previous experiences - experiences that were never hinted at nor explained in any form, nor was any logical clarification surrounding these mysterious flashes of "knowledge" ever provided either.
It left me, as the reader, feeling as though I was a third party secretly overhearing a story conversation going on between the author and a mysterious, yet fully informed, other party. In other words, I felt very much an outsider to the story, rather than an active participant within it. As such, I felt frustrated by the frequent gaps in disclosures regarding the rules and world-building structures of Aventurine.
There was no consistency regarding how knowledge was obtained or passed along, nor how/why there erupted extraordinary roller coasters of emotions, midway through the adventure which abruptly ended once Birdie returned to the "real world". Basic facts such as Birdie's unusual forced weekend study of Latin are never discussed or explained. This leaves the reader unclear whether it was related to a religious requirement, an academic agenda, or some other quirky need. Clearly, it is extraordinarily unusual for a child of her age to be able to both accurately identify a broad range of plants using conventional English names, let alone the Latin ones, on top of it. Yet, the reader is given almost no explanation for how/why Birdie already had such knowledge, especially as her mom was so opposed to everything connected to the world of Mo (which would suggest gardening/plants, as well).
Both Birdie and Kerka were amazingly incurious characters who repeatedly failed to ask significant questions either of themselves, each other, or of anyone else they came in contact with. With all of the unfamiliar settings, objects, and experiences they were going through, their IQ levels would have had to be subnormal for them to have gone through so much with so few questions being asked or answered. Most preteens would never pursue any serious task/quest with so few questions asked or answered.
At the same time, the author somehow wants the reader to believe that children genuinely assess their own statements for levels of "whininess". Having worked with hundreds of children of all ages, as both an RN and K-8 teacher, I have yet to meet a child who is concerned about their level of complaints, except when they fear that such statements will invoke brutal punishments via the adults in their lives. Having peeked at another book in this series, it appears it is the author, herself, who despises children who complain. Apparently, both questions and complaints go against her value system, which I don't agree with nor find healthy.
The whole meaning behind the "Shadow Tree" and the dead plants surrounding it were neither explored nor explained, making most of the painful events that occurred there meaningless to the reader. Why was Kerka kidnapped by the "Shadow Tree" and her hair lopped off by the fern? What did those stinging lights represent and why didn't the fairy queen equip the girls better to protect themselves from all those attacking creatures in the "Shadow Land"? Clearly, both Mo and the fairy queen knew much more than they ever bothered to share with Birdie. Why did they both opt to withhold so much valuable, insightful information about Aventurine?
None of these questions and dozens of similar ones were even briefly raised or explained anywhere in the book. Birdie didn't seem the least bit upset that both her grandmother and mother had been withholding huge quantities of important family knowledge/history from her. I know of very few real-world kids who would be so nonchalant about the range and depth of family deceptions and lies that Birdie had unwittingly been living amongst.
It would have been far more reasonable for Birdie to have expressed a whole range of emotions upon returning to the "real world", rather than swinging wildly through emotions in the "dream world". After all, she had been used as an innocent "pawn" in her mother's war against her grandmother, since birth. The author doesn't want readers to seriously look at the impact of that choice on Birdie, so she just breezes right over it all, as though it's irrelevant and minor - a genuine fantasy, on the author's behalf.
The ending of the book was the weakest part of the whole project. Suddenly, Birdie's mom is rushing home from London to see her mom who'd she'd despised and spent decades describing as a "crazy old bat" to anyone who asked???? I understand that this is a fantasy book but this story's resolution is so far beyond believable as to make a joke of genuine family discord and painful, intergenerational events. No severely broken relationships are healed either this rapidly nor as miraculously as this one appears to. It takes a lot of time to rebuild trust and closeness after such huge family tears. Apparently, despite the author's age, she still has yet to learn this fact of life.
The superficiality of the ending and the quick, easy resolution of Birdie's grief about being yanked away from her treasured home, school, and friends in Califa, feels deeply disrespectful of the emotions and needs of children, to me. It's clear, from my perspective, that the author wants to breezily resolve several major traumas of childhood by "blowing a little fairy dust" upon them. Clearly, she doesn't have much depth to herself and, thus, doesn't sense much depth to the internal world of children, either.
There is so much potential in this book's setting, characters, fantasy world, and nature themes that could, theoretically, encourage, enrich, and engage readers who are making major adaptations to some of the greatest challenges of life. Sadly, the author doesn't yet live up to the potential of the world she's created. Hopefully, in future books, she will display much greater depth and sensitivity in her use of Aventurine as a source of healing, not only of children and families, but of nature/the planet, as well.
Then, the book's technical writing flaws began to become so blatant, they started interrupting my enjoyment of the story. Time and again, without any attempt at explanation, each of the book's protagonists would just somehow "know" something and act on that sudden eruption of "knowledge" without any explanation of where it all came from. Some readers might generously label those episodes as "intuitions" but intuition is based on previous experiences - experiences that were never hinted at nor explained in any form, nor was any logical clarification surrounding these mysterious flashes of "knowledge" ever provided either.
It left me, as the reader, feeling as though I was a third party secretly overhearing a story conversation going on between the author and a mysterious, yet fully informed, other party. In other words, I felt very much an outsider to the story, rather than an active participant within it. As such, I felt frustrated by the frequent gaps in disclosures regarding the rules and world-building structures of Aventurine.
There was no consistency regarding how knowledge was obtained or passed along, nor how/why there erupted extraordinary roller coasters of emotions, midway through the adventure which abruptly ended once Birdie returned to the "real world". Basic facts such as Birdie's unusual forced weekend study of Latin are never discussed or explained. This leaves the reader unclear whether it was related to a religious requirement, an academic agenda, or some other quirky need. Clearly, it is extraordinarily unusual for a child of her age to be able to both accurately identify a broad range of plants using conventional English names, let alone the Latin ones, on top of it. Yet, the reader is given almost no explanation for how/why Birdie already had such knowledge, especially as her mom was so opposed to everything connected to the world of Mo (which would suggest gardening/plants, as well).
Both Birdie and Kerka were amazingly incurious characters who repeatedly failed to ask significant questions either of themselves, each other, or of anyone else they came in contact with. With all of the unfamiliar settings, objects, and experiences they were going through, their IQ levels would have had to be subnormal for them to have gone through so much with so few questions being asked or answered. Most preteens would never pursue any serious task/quest with so few questions asked or answered.
At the same time, the author somehow wants the reader to believe that children genuinely assess their own statements for levels of "whininess". Having worked with hundreds of children of all ages, as both an RN and K-8 teacher, I have yet to meet a child who is concerned about their level of complaints, except when they fear that such statements will invoke brutal punishments via the adults in their lives. Having peeked at another book in this series, it appears it is the author, herself, who despises children who complain. Apparently, both questions and complaints go against her value system, which I don't agree with nor find healthy.
The whole meaning behind the "Shadow Tree" and the dead plants surrounding it were neither explored nor explained, making most of the painful events that occurred there meaningless to the reader. Why was Kerka kidnapped by the "Shadow Tree" and her hair lopped off by the fern? What did those stinging lights represent and why didn't the fairy queen equip the girls better to protect themselves from all those attacking creatures in the "Shadow Land"? Clearly, both Mo and the fairy queen knew much more than they ever bothered to share with Birdie. Why did they both opt to withhold so much valuable, insightful information about Aventurine?
None of these questions and dozens of similar ones were even briefly raised or explained anywhere in the book. Birdie didn't seem the least bit upset that both her grandmother and mother had been withholding huge quantities of important family knowledge/history from her. I know of very few real-world kids who would be so nonchalant about the range and depth of family deceptions and lies that Birdie had unwittingly been living amongst.
It would have been far more reasonable for Birdie to have expressed a whole range of emotions upon returning to the "real world", rather than swinging wildly through emotions in the "dream world". After all, she had been used as an innocent "pawn" in her mother's war against her grandmother, since birth. The author doesn't want readers to seriously look at the impact of that choice on Birdie, so she just breezes right over it all, as though it's irrelevant and minor - a genuine fantasy, on the author's behalf.
The ending of the book was the weakest part of the whole project. Suddenly, Birdie's mom is rushing home from London to see her mom who'd she'd despised and spent decades describing as a "crazy old bat" to anyone who asked???? I understand that this is a fantasy book but this story's resolution is so far beyond believable as to make a joke of genuine family discord and painful, intergenerational events. No severely broken relationships are healed either this rapidly nor as miraculously as this one appears to. It takes a lot of time to rebuild trust and closeness after such huge family tears. Apparently, despite the author's age, she still has yet to learn this fact of life.
The superficiality of the ending and the quick, easy resolution of Birdie's grief about being yanked away from her treasured home, school, and friends in Califa, feels deeply disrespectful of the emotions and needs of children, to me. It's clear, from my perspective, that the author wants to breezily resolve several major traumas of childhood by "blowing a little fairy dust" upon them. Clearly, she doesn't have much depth to herself and, thus, doesn't sense much depth to the internal world of children, either.
There is so much potential in this book's setting, characters, fantasy world, and nature themes that could, theoretically, encourage, enrich, and engage readers who are making major adaptations to some of the greatest challenges of life. Sadly, the author doesn't yet live up to the potential of the world she's created. Hopefully, in future books, she will display much greater depth and sensitivity in her use of Aventurine as a source of healing, not only of children and families, but of nature/the planet, as well.
August 15, 2017
I'm all for characters who are open with their feelings, but nobody talks like this unless they're starring in a badly written PSA or Very Special Episode. It's not that the girls are future fairy godmother so much as they're exposition fairies.
October 2, 2019
I read this with my 8 year old. She loved it.
December 28, 2019
I really liked the beginning of the book and the imagination that went into the mystical land of Aventurine. I was also very happy to see how things worked out for Birdie and her mother in the end.
May 1, 2022
A fun book geared towards pre-teen girls.
November 7, 2016
***warning
***spoiler alert
1. My favorite character in this book is the Grandmother. She is rosy and always using her energy to cheer people up. The Grandmother has a real personality, she is not fake at all. And, she really loves flowers. She is wise like Yoda, because she will only tell a bit and you’ve gotta find out the rest by yourself! She actually reminds me of my guides at Acton Academy. And, I love my school.
Granny Mo is a good and decent person with a caring nature. She cares about everything from people to the environment. I love her character because she makes me want to be a better person.
2.
This book was not the most surprising book that I have ever read. But, in answer to the question ‘what was the biggest surprise of the book’ I realized that there was one scene that was actually pretty stunning. Two characters, Birdie and Kerka have a little adventure under the water and they discover a magical super power. They can breath and talk under water! It was amazingly unexpected. I so wish that could do that. It’s too bad that I am not a real mermaid.
3.
The book was definitely not the best book i’ve ever read but I do like the ending it is really magical. Birdie finds that she has powers, and she goes on a great adventure she finds a dying tree while she’s on her adventure and she saves the tree with her powers. The ending makes me happy because she saves a rotting with her love and her powers.
***spoiler alert
1. My favorite character in this book is the Grandmother. She is rosy and always using her energy to cheer people up. The Grandmother has a real personality, she is not fake at all. And, she really loves flowers. She is wise like Yoda, because she will only tell a bit and you’ve gotta find out the rest by yourself! She actually reminds me of my guides at Acton Academy. And, I love my school.
Granny Mo is a good and decent person with a caring nature. She cares about everything from people to the environment. I love her character because she makes me want to be a better person.
2.
This book was not the most surprising book that I have ever read. But, in answer to the question ‘what was the biggest surprise of the book’ I realized that there was one scene that was actually pretty stunning. Two characters, Birdie and Kerka have a little adventure under the water and they discover a magical super power. They can breath and talk under water! It was amazingly unexpected. I so wish that could do that. It’s too bad that I am not a real mermaid.
3.
The book was definitely not the best book i’ve ever read but I do like the ending it is really magical. Birdie finds that she has powers, and she goes on a great adventure she finds a dying tree while she’s on her adventure and she saves the tree with her powers. The ending makes me happy because she saves a rotting with her love and her powers.
January 16, 2016
Birdie is a twelve-year-old girl who has gone to visit her grandmother. Her grandmother and her mother do not get along for some reason. Her grandmother is a botanist and she shows Birdie around her land, pointing out a tree that is quite ill.
What happens next is approached as a dream in the story although it could also be something that involves astral projection, for Birdie goes to sleep and travels to a place where there are fairies. The place is physically very similar to her grandmother's area, but there is darkness in some places where there had been light back in the 'real' world.
Birdie meets a girl named Kerka and both girls find out they are basically fairy godmothers in training. Birdie will become a 'godmother' to plants and is given a task by the queen of the fairies there, that being to heal the tree in the dark maze which is that realities version of the sick tree at her grandmother's.
She does face some dangers along the way as she goes on what is in essence a heroine's journey. It's a very good book, very positive.
What happens next is approached as a dream in the story although it could also be something that involves astral projection, for Birdie goes to sleep and travels to a place where there are fairies. The place is physically very similar to her grandmother's area, but there is darkness in some places where there had been light back in the 'real' world.
Birdie meets a girl named Kerka and both girls find out they are basically fairy godmothers in training. Birdie will become a 'godmother' to plants and is given a task by the queen of the fairies there, that being to heal the tree in the dark maze which is that realities version of the sick tree at her grandmother's.
She does face some dangers along the way as she goes on what is in essence a heroine's journey. It's a very good book, very positive.
August 23, 2012
This was a great start to this series. I enjoy good books that involve a bit of magic or fairies or other supernatural or paranormal topics. I especially love to find ones like this for children or teens. I think it is important to help teens realize and understand that it's okay to be interested in something supernatural, paranormal or magical. I think kids would enjoy this book too. I enjoyed the female family line that was focused on in this book. I think it was a nice touch. I liked Birdie and her story and her qualities. I enjoyed reading about Kerka and Zally too and look forward to reading more about them in the next books in the series. I thought the book was brilliantly written, imaginative and fun! I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the rest. I just can't get them at my local library yet.
September 17, 2009
Birdie is a young girl who is visiting her mother's mom for the first time. There she finds out from her Gram that she comes from a long line of Fairy Godmothers, including her mother, who turned her back on the family history. Birdie learns she must go on a quest to bring the family back together.
The book enters the world of magic and dreamland so fast that you don't have much time to deny it. I like the idea of the series, which has a website at http://fairygodmotheracademy.com and cards within the books for each fairy godmother in training. These books are a step up from chapter books. So if your looking for the next step from Rainbow Magic Fairies or Disney Fairies books these would be a fine start.
The book enters the world of magic and dreamland so fast that you don't have much time to deny it. I like the idea of the series, which has a website at http://fairygodmotheracademy.com and cards within the books for each fairy godmother in training. These books are a step up from chapter books. So if your looking for the next step from Rainbow Magic Fairies or Disney Fairies books these would be a fine start.
October 29, 2014
For the intended age group this was a fun book. The illustrations were a little distracting, especially when the words were written over them. The family fight was resolved without any real reason given. I would have liked more detail about Birdie going into the fairy world. It was sudden and I wasn't really sure if she was supposed to have fallen asleep while outside in January or if something else had happened.
I enjoyed the relationship between Birdie and Kerka. I liked how it developed quickly. I liked Granny Mo's character and would have liked to see more of her. The fairy godmother concept behind the book was interesting, but not very much information was given on what they do in the role of fairy godmother, maybe that would come out in later books.
I enjoyed the relationship between Birdie and Kerka. I liked how it developed quickly. I liked Granny Mo's character and would have liked to see more of her. The fairy godmother concept behind the book was interesting, but not very much information was given on what they do in the role of fairy godmother, maybe that would come out in later books.
September 1, 2015
I have a feeling that if I'd read this book as a pre-teen I would have LOVED it. As an adult I can see some of the less-than-stellar writing moments, but I still really liked the main character (she manages to avoid some of the clichéd personality traits so prevalent among young/teenage heroines) and the overall message of women within a family bonding together and allowing each other to be true to themselves. I also felt a genuine appreciation that the author put some thought and effort into creating a world that melds traditional fairy tales and modern views on fairies, so that the book's setting falls somewhere in-between the two and in a unique place of its own. A book I'd readily recommend for younger girls, and one my own daughter really enjoyed.
January 23, 2013
3.75.....I read this one out loud with my 7 year old daughter. It is a cute story with very likable characters. As I have noticed other's comments in some previous reviews, I must agree that there were a lot of big words in this one - mostly plant names, but also just some larger words that seemed to be thrown in randomly. I think anyone younger than 11 would have a hard time reading this as a solo read. However, having said that, I did read it TO my daughter, and because we could stop and explain what words meant, she loved it. It was a really cute story and both my daughter and myself are excited to continue to the next novel in the series.
October 6, 2022
I was really underwhelmed by this book, honestly. I thought it was going to be about a girl finding out she's a fairy godmother and going to school (as the series name suggests), but it literally had nothing to do with that at all. She does find out she's a fairy godmother, though not the kind that I was expecting.
I'm sure if I was younger, I would have enjoyed this more. It simply wasn't what I was expecting and is no longer something that interests me. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be continuing this series.
I'm sure if I was younger, I would have enjoyed this more. It simply wasn't what I was expecting and is no longer something that interests me. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be continuing this series.
November 4, 2009
Enchanting! Birdie loves plants and she can name them like nobodys business. She clings to her green friends because her parents are busy people. When her mom leaves for a busimess trip her dad put her on the train to see her Grandma Mo. Grandma Mo's house is a magical place and from there Birdie's life makes a change! Step into Adventurine and see for yourself the mystical world that Birdie is now apart of!
September 12, 2011
This is a very cute book that caught my eye right away on the shelf. Birdie is a lovable character, with some great life lessons to teach any young reader. I would recommend this book for families who may be having a difficult time. The troubles that Birdie go through are softened by the fantastical elements of her adventure. Fun, exciting, and fast-paced, this first book in the series will leave you itching to pick up the next book right away.
September 12, 2016
The Fairy Godmother series used to be THE BEST THING EVER when I was a wee lass. I found Birdie's Book on the shelf of my library and decided to give in to good ol' nostalgia. I quickly reread it, and surprisingly enough, enjoyed it! It wasn't a complex plot, really developed characters, or even amazing writing. IT'S JUST FUN. It's like watching a cartoon. You're entertained, and that is it, and that is enough.
September 21, 2009
What I like about the book is its emphasis on growing things; what I didn't like is more important: it's not an example of exceptional writing. It felt like a string of "I did this..." and "This happened" - not a good flow to the words, which bothered me. I wouldn't give it to a child as an example of writing I would want her to imitate.
April 30, 2013
I can't remember why I checked this out from the library, but it was a cute little fluffy children's book.
I probably won't go on and read any more from this series, because there isn't enough there for the adult reader, really, but I did enjoy this one.
Awesome book if you're looking for a girl-focused story - the only male in the story at all is Birdie's father, who is almost non-existent.
I probably won't go on and read any more from this series, because there isn't enough there for the adult reader, really, but I did enjoy this one.
Awesome book if you're looking for a girl-focused story - the only male in the story at all is Birdie's father, who is almost non-existent.
April 1, 2016
Modern girls meet the magical fairy realm of Aventurine as they begin their training to become fairy godmothers. In the first book of the series, Birdie meets her grandmother and discovers a family legacy of caring for plants. She goes on a magical quest to save her family and the magic Glimmer Tree.
March 16, 2010
Birdie goes to visit her estranged grandmother and learns that there's magic in her family which has been rejected by her mother. The action picks up when Birdie visits the magical land of Adventurine to complete a quest. This book is pretty straightforward, some family/divorce issues.
April 10, 2011
This was a solid fairy adventure for those who want fantasy fiction with the trappings of a fairy world. I liked the prospect of a fairy godmother lineage, but I just don't think it was adequately explored.
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