Fairy Charm Collection Omnibus (the Charm Bracelet, the Flower Fairies, the Third Wish, Last Fairy-apple Tree, the Magic Key, the Unicorn, the Star Cloak, Etc.)

by Emily Rodda

The Fairy Realm series are wholesome lighthearted reads featuring a secret fairy realm found through a doorway at the edge of the garden. There's magic and mythical creatures and miniature horses that talk (because what else would you find in a secret fairy realm? duh.) It's reminiscent of Shirley Barber's gorgeous picture books albeit with less impressive artwork (Shirley Barber is incredibly talented). It's a good series for tween girls. I loved this series as a kid, they were imaginative and magical and I loved every minute. I'm pretty sure this series is what started my love of charm bracelets too.

The Charm Bracelet
Great start to the series. Jessie is a very likable character - she's smart, brave and kind - for all she kind of loses it when being transported to a magical Realm with supposedly no way home. Because although panicked - she does rally and uses her practical, logical side to find out all the information she can and come up with a plan to fix things. Her plan to trick Valda to open the door by making her think she'd already gone through the door was inspired. Maybelle, Giff and Patrice were interesting and I liked the world building - even if there wasn't a whole lot in this first book. And I love that Jessie receives her own charm bracelet at the end and has collected her first charm (a heart) to remember the Realm by. It's so whimsical. 5 stars.

The Flower Fairies
Jessie is excited that her and her mum have finally made the move to live with her grandmother at Blue Moon but starting a new school is daunting and when the teacher asks for volunteers for the play, Jessie thinks it will be a good chance to fit in. Unfortunately volunteering for the part of the butterfly involves a solo dance - and Jessie can't dance. She's not sure what she's going to do but the Realm has problems of it's own and when Maybelle comes to recruit her - Jessie puts the dancing out of her mind and focuses on the more immediate issue. The Realm has too much magic now that Jessica restored the magic and the Griffins have taken into their head to guard everything in the Realm not just the Queen's treasures. I enjoyed Jessie's solution for the Griffins. She moves the Queen's fairy wings into the treasure house and makes the Griffin's feel necessary and vital to the safety of them - meaning they all move back to the treasure house and stop guarding everything else, like Giff's house. That was amusing. That's what I really love about this series how logical and practical it is - even if it is magical. Of course it was highly amusing that the plan backfired on her when she borrowed the fairy wings to take to the school dance and the griffin comes after her - it was definitely the one flaw in her plan. The flower fairies were funny - very mischievous. And I loved that Jessica switched out the fairy wings so it really was Jessie dancing. And I love her new butterfly charm. 5 stars.

The Third Wish
This one was interesting, Rosemary (Jessie's mum) tries to protect Jessie from the knowledge that the bushfires are close to Blue Moon. She doesn't lie to her - Jessie is aware of the fires - but she doesn't inform her of the danger either and Jessie doesn't seem to recognise the stress and worry her mother is feeling. I found it an interesting direction to take the story in. I liked that Jessica explained the situation to Jessie and reminded her how brave and resilient she can be when given the chance. I think sometimes we don't give kids enough credit.

Upon realising the danger, Jessie asks her Granny if there's anything they can do - afterall - their garden has a secret garden entrance to a hidden magical realm - surely they can fix things with magic? And so begins a trip to the Under-Sea of the Realm to find a wish-stone. Or a magic fish.

Of course, it doesn't go as planned when Jessie finds that a being named Lorca has taken over the Under-Sea imprisoning fish and one poor mermaid, Coral, ever since Queen Jessica first left the Realm. I enjoyed getting to see other aspects of the Realm. I liked Ripple and the Magic Fish and I liked the moral lessons about the dangers of wishes and the risks the Magic Fish faced that were imparted. And the anagram amused me with Lorca being a very upset Coral making a wish to walk on land. It was obvious, but a nice touch nonetheless. Jessie manages to sort out the Under-Sea, return to Blue Moon and put out the fires and later receives a golden fish for her charm bracelet. Very enjoyable. 5 stars.

The Last Fairy-Apple Tree
Queen Jessica aka Granny has been having flashes of Hidden Valley - the home to the Realm's gnomes and delicious fairy-apple trees. She's worried but having abdicated the throne, is unwilling to step in. To get around this, she sends Jessie! But first, she takes Jessie to the only fairy-apple tree in the mortal world - right next door and there they find Bilbert the Brave - a trapped gnome. This is my favourite book so far. I love gnomes! I was amused at the idea of garden gnomes being Realm gnomes that stayed too long and got caught by moonlight - turning to stone and never going home unless someone with a bit of magic rubs their heads.

Maybelle, Patrice and Giff all make appearances and Maybelle leads the gang to the Hidden Valley (because stone gnomes forget their way back). And on the way they meet the furrybears. Okay the furrybears sound hysterical. They catch lone travelers that wander into their territory so that they'll be told stories. Lol. I cracked up at that one. Who doesn't love a good story? I felt sorry for the gnomes - having been so greedy for gold they accidentally forgot that they were supposed to leave the excess to regrow the fairy apple trees. But it was nice that Jessie thought of Bilbert's dirty beard having old seeds - even if it was bloody disgusting. And I loved that Jessie tells the best story the furrybears have ever heard. And she was right - who doesn't love a story that paints themselves as heroes? Jessie gets a little leaf charm for her charm bracelet and Rosemary (Jessie's mum) tells Granny off for spoiling her which was amusing. No, it's not from Granny mum, it's from my Great-Aunt Helena that you've never met and who's Queen of a magical realm you've never been to. Duh. 5 stars.

The Magic Key
I loved the last book because gnomes are awesome. But I'm pretty fond of rainbows and toadstools too so this was fantastic. Jessie is eagerly anticipating her birthday party until the day of the party she wakes up to find it's raining. Her party is supposed to be outdoors and now - it'll be ruined! Granny tells her not to worry, all will be well, but she's upset and moody. So Granny sends her off to count the toadstools and there begins her adventure. I love the idea of the toadstools housing a pixie village. The pixies were funny - I liked the name Littlebreeze. I enjoyed the terms they used - her birthday was a "moon day", she was to have "many happies", gifts were "gifties", treats were "treaties" - there was something very endearing about it all. And their gifts were amusing. Golden lolly wrappers used for wrapping the gifties. I liked the idea of safety pins bringing good luck - not that I'm sure I've ever found a safety pin on the ground before.

I liked the parrot and the rainbow fairies. Poor Emerald getting lost and losing her magic treasure (Queen Jessica gave her a safety pin to cheer her up before sending her through the door but Emerald drops it and feels so ashamed she has never returned). It was great how her lost treasure tied into to Littlebreeze's gift. Hopefully the rainbow fairies will visit Blue Moon once more. And I loved Jessie's dress. I like the idea that it soaked up the colours from the rainbow fairies crystals. And this time Maybelle sends along her new charm - a tiny key for her charm bracelet. Only to work near toadstools. I really wanted to know if that meant she'd automatically be made big then as well. But my favourite part was the note the pixies sent saying sorry. To start with it was tiny and Jessie had to find her magnifying glass to read it. And their spelling cracked me up.

"DEAR JESSIE, WE ARE SORY YOU GOT BLONE AWAY. HEER ARE YOUR GIFTIES AND ONE EXTRA FROM THE REALM FOKE. MAYBELLE SEZ DON'T WORRY. IT ONLY WERKS NEAR TOADSTOOLS. SEE YOU SOONE.

I adored this addition to the series. 5 stars.

The Unicorn
This time in the Realm, evil is afoot. Both Jessie and her grandmother, the former Queen Jessica wake up one morning feeling dreadfully worried - they're not sure what's wrong - but they know that something is. But is the danger in the Realm? Or closer to home? They've just made a decision to head to the Realm when the phone calls come. Granny's friend Hazel has had an accident as in the hospital. And then Rosemary (Jessie's mum) is called into work to replace a nurse who also had an accident. It's left to Jessie to visit the Realm and find out what's going on.

But when she gets to the Realm - it's worse than she expected. Valda is back. She's been banished to the Outlands twice now - but with Queen Helena dealing with a threat to the hedge in the West and her Granny at the hospital it's up to Jessie to find the one thing Valda fears - a unicorn. I enjoyed this adventure. Jessie is brave and kind and unwilling to do anything but her best for the Realm and the mortal world. I liked that Irena Bins and her family are finally dealt with - they've been so mean for so long it was nice to see them get their just deserts. The town thinks they're crazy after they come to the Winter Festival raving about unicorns and evil cousins and trolls and the Fairy Queen living next door to them. And I liked that Grey Prince (Irena's horse that she abandons) gets to live with the unicorns, in the Forest of Dreams. I enjoyed the action and drama in this one, it was a nice wrapping point for the series - even if it did go on to contain more books. Jessie's charm for this adventure was a ice crystal. I really love this series. 5 stars.