I asked Isabelle what other kids in her class like to read, and she said that Amy reads books about "rainbow fairies". I Googled it, and borrowed this book from the library.
This book is only the first in the "Rainbow Magic" series, and it is pretty much just an introduction, setting up the characters and the story. Two girls, Rachel and Kirsty, meet on the ferry on their way to Rainspell Island, where they will be vacationing with their parents for a week. On the first day, they find Ruby the Red Fairy, and they get pulled into a fairy hunt that spans the rest of the series. Ruby has 6 sisters who also need to be found, and presumably, Rachel and Kirsty will find one fairy per day per book.
The writing and the dialogue are not especially interesting or well-done. There's not much in the way of character development. As far I can tell, the only difference between Rachel and Kirsty is that Rachel has light-colored hair and Kirsty has dark hair. It's unclear how old they are supposed to be. Maybe fourth graders? Old enough to go off by themselves, at least.
Basically, the story laid out in this series strikes me as a quintessential "storybook" story, maybe the kind of adventure Dora the Explorer might get mixed up in. There's a magical place called Fairyland where all kinds of fairies and small animals live in harmony. There's an angry Jack Frost who casts an evil spell that needs to be broken. It certainly doesn't offer much in the way of entertainment for adults, but it does seem to be pitched just right for young girls in, say, pre-K through 2nd grade.
Most importantly, Isabelle liked it. She read it to herself, and she's looking forward to reading the rest of the series. When it comes down to it, any book that encourages Isabelle to read independently, and gets her excited about reading, is worth keeping around.
One final thought: Let me compare this book to the "Ivy + Bean" series, the only other series for young girls that Isabelle has read independently (so far). I think the Ivy + Bean books are overall geared to an older audience. They are certainly better constructed; they have well-developed characters, entertaining dialogue, and in most cases, interesting plots. But, the girls' behavior so often cross the line into "unacceptable" that I felt compelled to read each book before Isabelle so that I could discuss with her the difference between behavior we read about in books and behavior that is allowed in real life. I admit, it's something of a relief to feel that I can probably let Isabelle read this series on her own, trusting that any "bad behavior" will probably be limited to the "bad" Jack Frost character. Of course, I'll need to read a few more books in the series to make a more informed judgment, but right now, the series seems to offer a cute, "safe" story for a little girl to get excited about.
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