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anomalousheart's review
5.0
These books made my childhood. I spent so many of childhood days reading them, swapping them with the other girls at school, and collecting more and more. I'll definitely be passing my collection on to my future children.
hellohannahw's review
2.0
This book was definitely plagued by the same problems as Samantha the Swimming Fairy. The writing style was boring and there was little extended vocabulary.
I found that Samantha's plot was fine and had direction but the same could not be said of Alice. Most of the book was taken up with descriptions of Goblindon and the girls trying (and failing) to do an easy task. In this book Alice is seen summoning a trolley of strawberries and cream so why she didn't do this to the tennis racket remains a mystery. The plot just seemed very contrived to me.
The book did try to teach the reader about Wimbledon (strawberries and cream, only wearing white) but there were definitely some major difference between Goblindon and Wimbledon so it really wasn't made clear what was an accurate representation of the competition and what wasn't.
The character of the goblins were definitely what saved this book from being totally unenjoyable. They were really fun and perfect over the top villains for a children's adventure. There was very little difference between Kirsty and Rachel's personalities in this book (and I definitely remember getting mixed up between the two) but they worked well as a duo. Alice was really underdeveloped and any sort of personality she might possess was buried so deeply subtext that it could not really be seen as intentional.
I love tennis inspired fashion and Alice is certainly not flopping but then again I feel like she could have done more. The pink visor is doing something but I think she needs more. Especially in the illustrations inside the book the outfit is really kind of boring. I kind of hated Kirsty's outfit in this book but I did love Rachel's (especially the jeans).
I found that Samantha's plot was fine and had direction but the same could not be said of Alice. Most of the book was taken up with descriptions of Goblindon and the girls trying (and failing) to do an easy task. In this book Alice is seen summoning a trolley of strawberries and cream so why she didn't do this to the tennis racket remains a mystery. The plot just seemed very contrived to me.
The book did try to teach the reader about Wimbledon (strawberries and cream, only wearing white) but there were definitely some major difference between Goblindon and Wimbledon so it really wasn't made clear what was an accurate representation of the competition and what wasn't.
The character of the goblins were definitely what saved this book from being totally unenjoyable. They were really fun and perfect over the top villains for a children's adventure. There was very little difference between Kirsty and Rachel's personalities in this book (and I definitely remember getting mixed up between the two) but they worked well as a duo. Alice was really underdeveloped and any sort of personality she might possess was buried so deeply subtext that it could not really be seen as intentional.
I love tennis inspired fashion and Alice is certainly not flopping but then again I feel like she could have done more. The pink visor is doing something but I think she needs more. Especially in the illustrations inside the book the outfit is really kind of boring. I kind of hated Kirsty's outfit in this book but I did love Rachel's (especially the jeans).
neartothewildheart's review
With almost 200 Rainbow Fairies books, one can see why these are good high-interest, beginner chapter books for young readers. Readers need series like these to practice reading. The story was fast-paced, light and sweet, and the pictures support the text well enough.
The evil goblins have stolen Alice the Tennis Fairy's beloved magic racket, the one that makes playing tennis "safe and fun." That's not the only problem, for Rachel and Kirsty have been helping to get all the sports fairies' equipment back from these wicked creatures so they can compete in the Fairyland Olympics. For this story, they hatch a plan to sneak the magic tennis racket out from under the evil umpire of the Goblindon, the goblins' version of the tennis tournament Wimbledon. The two girls work out a couple of clever ruses to trick the goblins, all while April snatches her magic tennis racket back right from under their goblin-y eyes.
I'm glad these books exist for young kids, yet I sort of wish they had a little more substance to it. Most importantly, you really need to read all of the Sports Fairies subset to understand the entire story arch. Enough information is given to set up the story, but it doesn't stand alone well.
So if you recommend these to kids, don't start in the middle of a sub-series of the Rainbow Fairies books. I work as a youth services librarian at a fairly small library, and we are not able to keep all the 130+ RF books that exist. It's good to have read one and know that if we commit to a subset of the Rainbow Fairies, then we need to get all of them in that specific series.
The evil goblins have stolen Alice the Tennis Fairy's beloved magic racket, the one that makes playing tennis "safe and fun." That's not the only problem, for Rachel and Kirsty have been helping to get all the sports fairies' equipment back from these wicked creatures so they can compete in the Fairyland Olympics. For this story, they hatch a plan to sneak the magic tennis racket out from under the evil umpire of the Goblindon, the goblins' version of the tennis tournament Wimbledon. The two girls work out a couple of clever ruses to trick the goblins, all while April snatches her magic tennis racket back right from under their goblin-y eyes.
I'm glad these books exist for young kids, yet I sort of wish they had a little more substance to it. Most importantly, you really need to read all of the Sports Fairies subset to understand the entire story arch. Enough information is given to set up the story, but it doesn't stand alone well.
So if you recommend these to kids, don't start in the middle of a sub-series of the Rainbow Fairies books. I work as a youth services librarian at a fairly small library, and we are not able to keep all the 130+ RF books that exist. It's good to have read one and know that if we commit to a subset of the Rainbow Fairies, then we need to get all of them in that specific series.
sederle's review
3.0
My 6 year old and I are currently working our way through all of these fairy books. They aren't bad, but I'm looking forward to starting the Harry Potter series or reading Ella Enchanted with her!!
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