Jessie returns to the magical Realm for the fifth time. The magic of the Realm has rescued her home from terrible fires, she has saved the Realm's magical people from a wicked imposter, kept the griffin guards under control, and saved the fairy-apple trees.
Now it's Jessie's birthday, and she finds herself chasing a rainbow. She's got to get to the end before it fades, or she may never get home!
Then there are the Rainbow Fairies, who desperately need Jessie's help to find a lost magic treasure. Until it's found, they'll never get back to the secret garden...
Emily Rodda (real name Jennifer Rowe) was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney in 1973 with an MA (Hons) in English Literature. Moving into a publishing career, first as a book editor, and finally as a publisher at Angus & Robertson, Rodda's first book was published in 1984.
This book was funny. I especially liked the part when Giff had to wear a dress made of petals. I learned that if you help somebody they might help you.
The Fairy Realm series are wholesome lighthearted reads featuring a secret fairy realm found through a doorway at the edge of the garden. There's magic and mythical creatures and miniature horses that talk (because what else would you find in a secret fairy realm? duh.) It's reminiscent of Shirley Barber's gorgeous picture books albeit with less impressive artwork (Shirley Barber is incredibly talented). It's a good series for tween girls. I loved this series as a kid, they were imaginative and magical and I loved every minute. I'm pretty sure this series is what started my love of charm bracelets too.
The Magic Key I loved the last book because gnomes are awesome. But I'm pretty fond of rainbows and toadstools too so this was fantastic. Jessie is eagerly anticipating her birthday party until the day of the party she wakes up to find it's raining. Her party is supposed to be outdoors and now - it'll be ruined! Granny tells her not to worry, all will be well, but she's upset and moody. So Granny sends her off to count the toadstools and there begins her adventure. I love the idea of the toadstools housing a pixie village. The pixies were funny - I liked the name Littlebreeze.
I liked the parrot and the rainbow fairies. And I loved Jessie's dress. And this time Maybelle sends along her new charm - a tiny key for her charm bracelet. Only to work near toadstools. I really wanted to know if that meant she'd automatically be made big then as well. I adored this addition to the series. 5 stars.
Jessie wakes up to a rainy day. It's her birthday and all the plans for fun depend on being outside. At school, her fellow classmate and neighbour Irena, is telling her friend that she 'has' to go to Jessie's party, but it's bound to be terrible. Irena said her grandmother is a looney and they'll only play childish games. Sal Jessie's friend tells her not to worry about Irena saying mean things.
Her grandmother tells Jessie to go clean her room, get into her party dress and come back to help her in the kitchen. Great birthday so far, she thinks. When her whimsical grandmother tells her to go and count the toadstools at the back of the garden and to take the red umbrella with her, she is wondering what for. Of course, Jessie knows the old lady is magical, having been Queen of the fairies, she left to marry the human she loved. She tells Jessie it will be alright. Will it? Jessie's not sure if it keeps raining.
When she goes to count the toadstools there are so many there. One appears to have a door on the side. She finds a golden key under the mat. Then Pixies arrive to which her many 'happies' and give her gifts. Jessie finds she's having fun and forgets about being grumpy. Then she finds herself being blown away in the wind because she's shrunk to the size of fairies. How will she get home?
Emily Rodda is a talented writer of many genres of books.
This definitely reads like a sequel book rather than the first of its kind, but there's enough exposition that it's easy enough to follow with out having read the prior books. It's also VERY well illustrated! The drawings look like photographs!
The story admittedly feels a bit boiled down to, "." Yes, more happens, but in a very "I went on a journey to find myself" sort of way. I don't know if that makes sense... like, it feels as though Grandma could have just as easily made the party magic happen without the Fairy Realm being involved... though, then there wouldn't be a story, would there?
Recommended for fans of fairies and pixies, or similar magical creatures. The story is a bit simple for my taste, though.
This installment was a great breakaway from the previous books, because Jessie is really on her own. In all the other books her friends help her in almost every way, but here Jessie must figure things out on her own...at least for some of the book. As is common in books of this genre, she must rely on others as a given, which makes me appreciate this book less than I could have. But in its defense, it is for little girls, and I stopped being little about 15 years ago.
So far this has been the most enchanting of this series.
It's Jessie's birthday and to ensure she feels the full joy of the day, Queen Jessica (her grandmother) sends her into the realm to find her happiness - she's totally nervous about her birthday party.
The adventure and encounters that follow are just magical. Who would have thought, see a pin and pick it up, could make a whole story
More of the same from this Emily Rodda young reader as our hero assists in saving the day again. Nothing too taxing here, really by the numbers, but enjoyable top the target market I am sure. Emily Rodda #36
It's Jessie's birthday, but things look somewhat grim. It's raining, and one of the girls that is coming is a very nasty girl.
Jessie is sent out to count toadstools by her grandmother, and meets a group of pixies who are having their own birthday party for her. She ends up the size of a pixie, but then trouble intervenes and she gets blown away.
She manages to get back to the Fairy Realm and seek help from the Queen. At the same time, she helps one particular rainbow fairy handle a problem from her own past. Jessie gets back to her own place in time for her birthday, and things end up going well after all.
For some reason I didn't quite feel that this book was on par with the first four. Of course it was adorable! But it was Jessie's birthday and the pixies had a little party. That was adorable but halfway through the book, just as I was getting bored with it, it was like Rodda said "Oh, that's right! You can't have a story without a problem." and then the wind picks up... Yeah, it was cute. It was about what you should expect children's literature to be, but it didn't *WOW* me like the others. (#4 had me holding back tears. I kid you not!)
I liked how Jessie blew away from her garden when she was pixie size and a bird came along and took her to the end of the rainbow. And her grandma says there's either a door to the room or a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The door to the room leads to some fun surprises. But you'll have to find out what surprises when you read the book!
I would give this book (and the rest of the series) two or three stars. It is a really good book, for younger kids (7-9). For me, I enjoyed it when I was younger, but now, it was.....interesting. Totally great series for young girls. Pretty easy read too.
Jessie shrank so tiny. She even got into trouble with the pixies! When she fled to the realm her friends berly even saw her. Soon she was unshrunk and if you want to find out how she got unshrunk just read the book to find out.
My girls love these books. These a great beginner fantasy books, which I even enjoy reading. The plots are simple yet exciting and diverse. These are a good read.
Finally, a fairy story that my young daughter likes that I don't mind reading with her! It's not undying prose, but it well written and not totally formulaic.