The Fairy Dancers (Natalie Jane Prior, illus by Cheryl Orsini, ABC Books)

Looking distinctly like Kate Knapp’s successful Ruby Red Shoes, this pretty pre-chapter book, containing three stories, is a good gift book for junior fiction readers. Young friends Emma, Mia and Grace are three ‘fairy dancers’ who attend an exclusive ballet class. Mia’s sausage dog is the fourth member, providing brief moments of contained drama in otherwise very safe stories. Studying under Miss Ashleigh, the girls’ world is small and conventional. Although there’s a touch of magic in the first story—in which Emma decides she’d like blue ballet shoes instead of pink and finds paint is the answer—the rest of the stories are grounded, although occasionally the girls insist that they will ‘fly home’ like fairies. The girls are kind and considerate, and Emma’s rebellion in the first story is the only whiff of mischief. The message in each story is as sweet as the dainty artwork, such as the joy you get from thinking of others, or how to rise above disappointments. Children who love fairies and ballet will be in heaven as soon as they open up to the pretty endpapers, though the package could have been elevated by more distinguishable characters. With extensive full-colour artwork and simply told stories, emerging readers will see this as a worthwhile challenge. It is recommended for children aged five to eight.

Emily Gale is a children’s book and YA specialist at Readings

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews