Browsing the beginning chapter books: Fairylight Friends: A magic spark by Jessica Young, illustrated by Marie Vanderbemden

Genre: Fantasy

Protagonists: Male and female, variety of skin colors, male does not conform to gender stereotypes.

Reading Level: J

Series: Appears to be complete with three titles, the last published in 2021. Part of the Acorn imprint.

Originally reviewed in December 2020

To be shifted to transitional chapters

Review: This series for Acorn brings lots of flighty fairy fun. Acorn is Scholastic's easy reader chapter book line. They are fully illustrated, sometimes in traditional comic book format, but more often just with speech bubbles and some explanatory text. The reading level is usually intermediate, similar to Frog and Toad or Henry and Mudge. However, they do include both dialogue and exposition.

They're formatted in a small size, a little larger than a Beatrix Potter book, and give kids the feeling of reading a "real" chapter book. I actually put them in with my beginning chapter books, because I feel that they'd be lost on the easy reader shelves.

This book introduces three fairies; Ruby, with brown skin and dark brown, curly hair, likes to draw and create. Iris, with tanned skin, blue hair, and stripy leggings under her shorts, is athletic and loves to fly fast. Pip is quieter than the girls, with blonde hair and fair skin, and he likes to garden.

The three friends go to school with Miss Goldwing, brown-skinned with her hair in a tied back afro, who teaches them all the fairy skills they need, tiptoeing and making magic along with them in green slacks and a gold sweater. In three short stories, the friends discover their magic powers and then join together in creating a party for Miss Goldwing.

Verdict: This is fluff - cheerful, colorful fluff, but definitely fluff. It's more diverse than a lot of fairy offerings though and I'd much rather hand this to readers wanting fairy/magic easy readers than, say, Pinkalicious. I'd purchase the Princess Truly books from Acorn first though and get these if you have funds left.

Revisited: I still like these better than Pinkalicious or Daisy Meadows, but with only three titles there wasn't really enough of a series to build up an audience. I do recommend purchasing them if you have space in your budget and shelves though.

ISBN: 9781338596526; Published September 2020 by Scholastic; Purchased for the library