Ruby the Red Fairy

Rainbow Fairies #1

by Daisy Meadows, Georgie Ripper (Illustrator)

The seven Rainbow Fairies are missing! Rachel and Kirsty search for one in each RAINBOW MAGIC book. Read all seven books to help rescue the fairies and bring the sparkle back to Fairyland!

Fairyland is home to seven colorful sisters. Together, they are the Rainbow Fairies! They keep Fairyland dazzling and bright. But when evil Jack Frost sends them far away, the sisters are in big trouble. If they don't return soon, Fairyland is doomed to be gray forever!

Rachel and Kirsty discover Ruby the Red Fairy in the pot at the end of the rainbow. Can they help find the rest of her Rainbow sisters . . . before it's too late?

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Fairies, Middle Grade, Magic, Chapter Books

65 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Daisy Meadows is the pseudonym used for the four writers of the Rainbow Magic children's series: Narinder Dhami, Sue Bentley, Linda Chapman, and Sue Mongredien. Rainbow Magic features differing groups of fairies as main characters, including the Jewel fairies, Weather fairies, Pet fairies, Petal fairies, and Sporty fairies.

Narinder Dhami was born in Wolverhampton, England on November 15, 1958. She received a degree in English from Birmingham University in 1980. After having taught in primary and secondary schools for several years she began to write full-time. Dhami has published many retellings of popular Disney stories and wrote the Animal Stars and Babes series, the latter about young British girls of Asian origin. She lives in Cambridge, England with her husband and cats.

Sue Bentley was born in Northampton, England. She worked in a library after completing her education and began writing for children once her own began school. Bentley is the author of the Magic Kitten, Magic Puppy, and S Club series and lives in Northamptonshire.

Linda Chapman has written over 50 children's fiction books, including the following series: My Secret Unicorn, Stardust, Not Quite a Mermaid, and Unicorn School. She lives in Leicestershire with her husband and daughters.

Sue Mongredien was born in 1970 and grew up in Nottingham, England. She has published over 100 children's books, including the following series: The Adventures of Captain Pugwash, The Magic Key, Frightful Families, and Oliver Moon. She has also contributed many titles to the Sleepover Club series and written picture books. Mongredien created the Royal Ballet School Diaries under the pen name Alexandra Moss. She lives with her family in Bath, England.

Reviews

[Zoë]

This series is extremely popular at my library, so I thought I'd see what the youngsters are reading these days. It was cute! I definitely would have loved it when I was 6 or 7.

[маја]

if you read these as a kid you're now a bad bitch no i will not elaborate

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dont know what crack she sprinkles on the pages of these, but my 6 year old son started one out of curiosity, and now happily spends an hour or so silently reading them to himself next to me while I read a "daddy-book". They may be a pile of crap, but at his age any silent reading is important. Plus someone in the shop told me they were for girls. So they can get fucked. Rainbows and fairies are for boys too. I just picked up the pack of 57 books for 20 quid and that will keep him going for weeks...

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mara *loves* these books. They annoyed me so much I vented my spleen in an amazon review.

Basically, here are the things I don't like about the books.

1) The dialog, characters and plot are truly insipid. Here is a sample: "I'm Kirsty" said Kirsty. "I'm Rachael" said Rachael. Some of the plots make absolutely no sense.
2) The heroines (which I can't even keep straight) don't have any particularly admirable characteristics. There is little evidence of ANY of the following: bravery, thoughtfulness, cleverness, etc. The one distinguishing feature of the girls is their belief in magic, which somehow makes everything come out ok (YUCK!!!)
2) The illustrations show anorexic fairies in trendy teenage clothing (such as mini skirts, high heeled boots, etc) and their outfits seem to be as much a part of the story as other aspects of the plot. Rachael and Kirsty are super-thin as well. I can't help but look at the illustrations and think "eating disorder."
3) These books are clearly written, designed and marketed to MAKE MONEY. They are short and can be read quickly. Each book is a cliff hanger, requiring the purchase of the next, which is cleverly market with sticker inserts, excerpts of chapters, etc.

[Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, the rating is not objective. This book just brings back so many memories that I couldn't help giving it five stars. And it was on sale. Stop judging me.

So ladies and gentlemen, "Ruby the Red Fairy" was the very first book I've ever read on my own. What a little champ was I. I remember a six-year-old me, who could just barely read, being overly excited over reading her very first book. It's tiny. Only about 60 pages. But still. It's an achievement for a kid to finish their first book.

So yes, it may not have the most deliberate plot and the illustrations may not be the most beautiful ones, but I still love these books (this applies to all the Daisy Meadows books I may read in the future) and they will forever be in my cold, cold heart as the starting line of my reading career.

Oh, the nostalgia.

[Max · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series is full of shit and endless lines of poo. I can't believe I used to read these- they are utter talentless and dull.
Ten words each page, and each books are about ten dollars each. There is no magic- the fairies are fake and its not magical enough- its like making fairies into a commercial way, trying to make them mixed in the human world, drinking tea and so. The fairies need to f*** off from the human world, and fly up in their bulky trees in the deserted country, or at least hide in the floorboards of an old English house.
Also, I have read "Ruby the Red Fairy" and she is a narrow minded blonde who is annoying and irritating. Also, the two best friends in the book have no personality at all- they laugh, they talk, they have their so-called "adventures", but it seems no one has a personality in this book series.
I actually like Jack Frost. Do what you are doing and piss these fake fairies off and the two boring girls. Thanks- I send you my regards.

Enid Blyton is better- she writ books for small children and they were actually GOOD, intelligent and nicely written.

[ella nelson]

note: i'm not putting these into any bookshelves because they are literally my childhood and i don't want to label them

GAY
GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY

"Rachel looked out of the window. Her eyes opened wide.
A girl was standing alone on the deck. Her dark hair was wet with raindrops, but she didn’t seem to care. She just stared up at the sky."

"'I hope so,' Rachel replied. She had a feeling she was going to like Kirsty."

"Rachel looked, and nodded. Kirsty seemed to see magic everywhere."
even in you honey

AND THE DRAWINGS
GAY

kirsty has this striped sweater so on the pdf i just kinda drew a pride flag in hahaha

and also there's one part where they are just gazing into each other's eyes

GAYYYYYYYYYY

[ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

i remember reading this when i was in elementary school. i randomly decided i wanted to read it again, and it did not disappoint!

[Melissa]

THESE WERE MY CHILDHOOD.

[Julia Jasztal · Rating 5 out of 5]

...


(Mommy's review from 9/21/10)


This is a perfect book (and I'm going to assume series) for little girls. My daughter is just turned 5 years old and this is our third or fourth chapter book.
Most of the story she listens to while I'm reading but the text is simple enough that a child learning to read can help out with the story. Julia is able to pick out the words she knows and indentify with others that she's still learning.
I'd go ahead and check this out for yourself instead of going by any review - positive or negative - because I read some opinions that actually brought forth laughter.
How many overweight 5 year old do you know? Not many. Maybe a few but not many. Most children around that age are skinny. That does not mean they're anorexic and to even insinuate that shows extreme ignorance in my opinion. I'd be highly concerned if the fairies and little girls in this book were size 16 personally. This is all in response to some other comments by reviewers by the way. I saw none of the characters in the book dressed in any way that's not appropriate for the age group. There are no high heels. There are somewhat short fairy dresses - um, should they be ankle length? No. They shouldn't. They should be just like they are portyrayed here. Is Tinker Bell inappropriate? Is any other Barbie and Fairy out there? We're not talking Bratz dolls here people. We have regular fairies as characters in this book. Nothing out of the ordinary. Anyone thinking otherwise as internal issues they need to work on immediately.
There is far more than enough things in this world to fight against and speak out against when it comes to our children. A little girls book about fairies is not one of them.
Yes, the text is simple. Should it not be? Should we have sentences too hard for a child to comprehend and learn with? No thanks. You can keep that book. I'll take this one. And apparently my daughter feels the same way because we finished the book mere minutes ago and are leaving to go get the rest of the series in about an hour. :)

[Sabina · Rating 4 out of 5]

fairies 👍

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the stupidest series I have ever read. My daughter is five, and she was given the set by an eight-year-old friend. I was forced to read the whole series within a week.

There is absolutely no portrayal of how Rachel and Kirsty get to know each other--they just meet on the ferry and are instantly friends. I guess it's easy for them, since neither has any personality or even any distinguishing characteristics.

The language is so dull, dull, dull that I found myself livening it up with some "hard words".

The first five books have the exact same plot, and the last two have a slight variation on it. The plot details are very poorly worked out. Characters do things that are completely inconsistent with the facts of the situation as it has already been described. The goblins are the most incompetent laughable "bad guys", yet the girls and fairies are terrified of them. The books make a big deal about the girls' keeping the fairies secret from the adults, but they never have any trouble with going off by themselves or having their parents notice anything odd. Soooo stupid!!!!!!

[Kaethe · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of the Fairy series. I remain unimpressed, but subservient to the child's wishes.

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

And so what if I'm 22 reading this? Mind your own business

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 1 out of 5]

A number of years ago, I was in a bookstore perusing the chapter book section to see what was popular at that time. When a young girl presented a book from this series to her mother, the mom refused to buy it and told her daughter she had read "enough fairy books" and had to select something else. The child was disappointed and I thought the mother was being too strict, possibly even preventing her daughter from developing a lifelong love of reading. Now that I've read four books from this series myself, I've completely changed my mind - kudos to that mother for steering her child in a better direction.

The argument is that children want to read these books, and at least they are reading something. Normally I would agree with that - any reading is better than none at all. But these chapter books are such poor examples that I'm actually not convinced that reading this is better than not reading anything. At least Captain Underpants exemplifies characterization, contains humor, has a plot, and follows proper story structure. All of those elements are missing from here.

So what attracts children to the books in this series like a dog to bacon? In every one of the four books of this series that I read, the two insta-friends get fairy dust sprinkled over them, shrink to fairy size, and grow wings. Never mind that it only lasts for an instant, and they don't have any real adventures while impersonating fairies. The books in this series capitalize on every little girl's desire to be a fairy, every child's wish to be magical. It's crass commercialization at its best. With zero literary value.

[Theodore · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, when I was 7, I adored these books. My autistic self loved the fact that all the books were similar and it became a *robot voice* "neurodivergent brain sees things it likes in excess, must collect and hoard, must collect and hoard" situation. I was riveted, I was hooked....UNTIL I realised that there were an infinite amount of these books, and they were all. The damn. Same.

There were the pet keeper fairies, the jewel fairies, the fashion fairies, the weather fairies, the days of the week fairies, the flower fairies, the the party fairies, the fun day fairies, the dance fairies, the sporty fairies, the magical animal fairies, the green fairies, the ocean fairies, the twilight fairies, the showtime fairies, the princess fairies, the pop star fairies, the sweet fairies, the baby animal rescue fairies, the schooldays fairies, the helping fairies, the friendship fairies, the baby farm animal fairies, the funfair fairies, the endangered animals fairies, the after-school sports fairies, the festival fairies, the puppy care fairies, the the gold medal games fairies, the watersports fairies--
hell, there are even the 'magical craft fairies', and there's probably the bereavement faries, the mental health crisis fairies and the "my wife just left and took the kid" fairies out there somewhere too.

Rachel and kirsty beat the poor goblins an infinite amount of times, over and over, and over and over and over and over again. Every single time, they beat the goblins. EVERY. TIME.
Why did the goblins keep on fighting them? They were literally fighting a losing battle.
Seven year old me started to become a little jaded. A little sceptical. A little....bored.
This didn't stop me from buying all the books, though. (I'm going to out myself here. It was actually when I was 11 or so that I finally started getting bored of them.)
Eventually, I got so bored of all the fairies being so good and sweet and law abiding that when I read the books to my sister, I changed the story and made the goblins win and the fairies rude and sarcastic and constantly flipping off Rachel and kirsty. (!!)
We had such fun doing that!

Don't get me wrong, the og concept was great, Jack frost was even scary to little-kid-me in the beginning because wayyy back in the beginning, there was a real threat and a plot that made sense. The collectability of the books was also a massive +10000.
But then the whole overarching story got changed and became a complete contradiction of itself in the end.
These books are really good to get kids into reading, though. I definitely recommend them for that.

Back to Jack Frost. Honestly, as a kid, I genuinely worried about Jack Frost's mental health, being beaten so many times by pre-pubesant girls and their miniature discount-barbie friends. The man must have been depressed, honestly.🧍‍♂️

I would also like to point out that it's pretty funny that all the girl characters are fairies, and all the boy characters are goblins!
Like, yes, that's totally real. All women are fairies...
In real life, boys can be fairies, and girls can be goblins, too. That's equality, everyone.
Edit: There is a one-off special fairy who is a BOY!! My jaw is on the floor, he's called "Jae the boy band fairy". I am...flabbergasted... what's the politics of this? Is Jae trans, can fairies be cis dudes?? I'm just... amazed... I'm--
Moving on,
as kiddo, my favourite fairy was "Inky the Indigo Fairy", and the one book I really loved was one of the Christmas themed books where we got to see how the goblins lived in their "goblin village", it looked so cosy, I wanted to be a goblin so I could live there!
But anyways, it was a canon event reading these books.

Would also like to say that people who really liked these books as kids have an 89% chance of being somewhere in the lgbtq+ spectrum now. It's a phenomenon that is yet to be studied.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

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-school 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.

[Ruby Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Rainbow Magic series by Daisy Meadows hosts over 170 books. This is a great example of how to promote reading for pleasure in some children. The books are easy to read for some KS1 children, and can be enjoyed into the later primary (and even secondary) years. At primary school, one of my teachers banned reading these books due to their 'noneducational' nature, yet they were something my friends and I absolutely adored. Reading for pleasure in the classroom and at home is really important for children (and adults!) and whilst I would not necessarily use this series in the classroom, I would encourage children to take pleasure in reading the tales of the mischievous, yet completely charming fairies.
Further to this, the prospect of having a fairy book name which matched yours was VERY exciting. I still have books 1-32 on my bookshelf at home - I cannot bare to part with them.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

My six-year-old and I have read the entire color fairy series. She adores them, so maybe I should give them more than two stars. They're incredibly similar to each other. Even my daughter asked, "Mom! Why do they say that in EVERY book?!?" about Jack Frost's motives. They're pretty mediocre -- and so far very non-multicultural.

[Andrea Zuvich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely intro story to this magical series. My four-year-old loves this, and we first listened to an audiobook in this range when she was three. I'm sure she'll enjoy it when she's older, too.

[Rebecca Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series has been a huge hit with my six-year-old cousin. She and her parents read every night and have read far into the double digits. Every time I see her she updates me on her new ‘fairies’ – she was very excited to tell my sister (Bethany) and I when she got Rebecca the Rock and Roll Fairy and Bethany the Ballet Fairy in the same set. She’s a very imaginative child and so her play has quickly come to centre on stories involving these characters and I finally had to read the books simply to keep up.

Kirsty Tate and Rachel Walker meet on the ferry crossing to Rainspell Island where their families are both going to spend a week’s holiday. Easy friends, they quickly set off exploring the island.

While in the woods they come across an old upturned pot. Trapped inside they find a small red fairy by the name of Ruby. Temporarily giving the girls wings of their own, Ruby escorts them to Fairy Land to meet the King and Queen of the fairies: Oberon and Tatiana.

Impressed with the young girls, the King and Queen charge them with the responsibility of finding and freeing the rest of the Rainbow Fairies. These fairies, you see, are being targeted by the evil Jack Frost and with them missing, so too is all the colour of Fairy Land. Kirsty and Rachel must rescue them if Fairy Land is to return to normal.

Each book focuses on the finding of a new fairy – Ruby, Amber, Saffron, Fern, Sky, Izzy and Heather – somewhere on Rainspell Island. The books are clearly aimed at a very young, almost ‘new reader’ audience but is more than your run of the mill ‘Jack and Jill go for a picnic, the end’ book. Stories, characters and locations carry over somewhat while still maintaining the clear and easy direction of the book: find the fairy, evade Jack Frost. The text was big, clear and easy to read with plenty of illustrations.

My only issue with the book was with Jack Frost and his minions. They maintained a constant presence – yet hardly ever managed to actually do any damage. I realise these are books aimed at young children, but I would have liked to have seen them as more of a threat. 4/5

[Emily]

adding this bc I just finished reading it to my ESL students today and it /is/ a book. and I want to memorialize this because it was such a wonderful moment to see how engaged they were in the story. they clapped at the end and I've never seen that level of enthusiasm from one of them before :")

[Claire Skinner · Rating 3 out of 5]

hey, a book is a book 🧙‍♂️

[Mangoraspberry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh man, I have a love-hate relationship with this series. As a kid I wasted so much time on these books with a dense plotline and dense characters, but it also helped me get into the world of books and it brings me a lot of nostalgia.
It's been so long since I read this, but I can still summarize the entire plotline for you.
-a fairy is hiding somewhere while Rachel and Kirsty are doing some random-*** normal thing.
-The fairy says something like "I need your help finding my missing magical object!"
-They go searching for a while
-They see someone with green feet, a sharp nose, and sharp ears(couldn't possibly be a goblin, right...?)
-The goblin takes the item, but using tHe pOwEr oF mAgIc, they take the magical item and give it to the fairy
Also, the characters. Literally have no personality. Ask me to think of one personality trait for them and I would say lucky, which isn't even a personality trait.
Still, if you're a parent wondering if you should let your kids read this, just let them read it. It's silly and has no particular good morals, but it could actually let your kid get interested in the world of books and make them read other(and hopefully better) books in the future.

[AoF · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars | Blog

“I curse every part of Fairyland,
with a frosty wave of my icy hand.
For now and always, from this day,
Fairyland will be cold and gray!"”

First off, I'd like to say that I read this series as a kid, and it was my favourite. I ran around collecting all the Rainbow Magic books I could get my little hands on. A quick re-read has brought me to review this novel.

The plot is pretty straightforward: Rachel and Kirsty go on to help save the rainbow fairies of Fairyland while battling Jack Frost's evil forces. The writing is very, very simple. Like the plot and worldbuilding, it's not the best, but nor is it the worst. There are pictures to accompany the pages which can be very entertaining for anyone reading it.

Now, with all that being said, I would recommend these books for children who are starting, but are also a little hesitant, to read. These books could be that extra tug they need into the world of books. Later, they may graduate and move onto whatever suits their fancy. Everyone has to start somewhere, and I think the Rainbow Magic series is a great place to do just that!

[LIndsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having been forced to read about a hundred of these books (the same plot, characters, goodies and baddies but just different fairies each time), I must say that these booksa re drivel of the worst type. My 6 year old loves them as did my 10 year old when she was 5 or 6. What is the attraction? Is it the familiarity of the characters? Is it the fact that at bed time they can just lie there sleepily and not work too hard for the story becasue there is absolutely no plot once one has ready the first book. Fairies get lost and Rachel and Kirsty must find them whilst avoiding the wrath of Jack frost and his goblins. Badly written rubbish I say but then I'm not the target market - Or am I? Surely I should enjoy reading them to my children? I enjoy good children's literature adn I harte reading these so I refuse. Surely that can't be what 'Dasiy Meadows' intends? There are over 130 of these - all purile nonsense. My advice is not to get the little darlings started on them otherwise you may regret it!

[Celena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst these books don't wow they are important in encouraging young readers to read. Pleasure is vital to the early experience of reading for children. Believe me when girls hear descriptions of wings and magic dust, rainbows and fairy fashion their imagination kicks into overdrive. They are great chapter books for those children reading for themselves. So, yes they are repetitive and there are so many in the series - the important thing is the joy of reading and to not abandon reading to your children at this stage because you're bored or they're starting to read for themselves but introduce other books, perhaps even poetry about fairies. Don't leave kids languishing here, feed the beast.

[$hanel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this whole book series when I was in the fourth grade and I really liked them but many of my friends made fun of me for reading them which was just rude. Rachel and Kirsty arrive at RainSpell Island for their summer vacation and soon meet and become best friends. One ordinary day on the island Kirsty and Rachel find a pot that they think is full of gold and find Ruby the red fairy who has been swept away by Jack Frost and her sisters are somewhere else on the island. This book was really good thats why I gave it five stars! Its really good for fourth graders to read.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is pure fluff. However, my six year old daughter loves fairies and magic, so these appeal to her and she loves sitting right next to me, looking at the cute illustrations, while I read aloud. Very simplistic, but good for little ones.

[Becca da Romance Queen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great :D when I was like in second grade🤣 I HAD A THING, okay? OBSESSED

Takes about 30-40 minutes to read, great book for kids! It really had me believing in fairies as a young bloke. Though I am old now, I still recommend this book to everyone!