Disney Fairies Series
Some regular readers may think I like every book I have ever read. Well today I am going to review several bad books, just for a change.
The first of these are two books from the Disney Fairy Series. Before I start I will own up to never liking fairy stories. Folklore is fine, but stories written about sweet little fairies for sweet little girls never interested me. Give me a good adventure or mystery anytime, even when I was a kid. However, the VPRC committee had sent me 2 Disney Fairy books to read and evaluate for inclusion on the approved literature list.
My second bias is against Disney books. To me they reek of cheap advertising. When I found out that Disney is preparing an animated film about the Disney fairies for the home DVD market for release in 2008, suddenly the reason they were submitted to the VPRC became clear.
Anyway, I knew I had to read them, put my prejudices aside, and make a recommendation about their suitability for inclusion on the approved list.
The two samples I read were Beck and the Great Berry Battle and Vidia and the Fairy Crown. Of the two Beck was by far the better it dealt with the theme of the importance of finding a peaceful resolution to conflict. Except for the fact that the story took ages to come to the point (is there a mandatory word count?) the story was quite good. With that in mind I started Vidia. This book was every fantasy reader’s nightmare, an obnoxious hero, dozens of superfluous and silly side characters and no sensible solution to the problem. I am sorry, but the whole idea of a team of fairies that have laundry-talent gives me chills. Are fairies so stupid that they can’t learn to do washing?
Can you tell I won’t be recommending this series for every child in Victoria to read?
