When I saw that Sophie Kinsella had written a middle grade novel, I knew I had to read it!

This is such a cute story. Ella has to deal with regular kid stuff, like the mean girl next door, as well as fairy magic. Ella is a mature and smart girl who can often solve the messes that her mother makes with her fairy magic.

This story would be great for parents and children to read together. It’s quite funny. All of the spells end in “idoo” such as “cupcakeridoo” and “fixeridoo.” These funny, made up words would appeal to kids. Ella’s mom uses a fairy phone, like a smartphone, to cast her spells. However Ella’s grandmother still uses an old fashioned wand. Adults could relate to that since older generations often don’t want to adapt to new technology.

The pictures in the book would also appeal to kids. When I read with the children I look after, they are always looking for pictures in books. The pictures were also funny because they often depicted the spells that Ella’s mom had messed up.

I enjoyed this story. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book in the duology.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sophie Kinsella, and the publisher for allowing me to read and review Fairy Mom and Me. I found this book adorable. The illustrations were bang on, and the story was cute and easy enough for my young reader to read.

I read this book as bedtime reading with my 7 year old and my 3.5 year old. They both loved it! Couldn’t wait to hear more about the crazy mishaps.

Read this with my neice over Christmas and she really seemed to enjoy it. She was quick to point out the illustrations she liked best and would stop reading to laugh or exclaim at what was going on in the story. .
Words were simple enough for her to read the majority of the book on her own (she's 7 but was also a very early reader) and really only tripped over the made up fairy words.
I found the stories a little cheesy myself, but I'm also not the target demographic. My neice really loved it and that's the important part. I will definitely pick up a finished copy for her once it's out.

Fairy Mom and Me is the first book in a new children's series by Sophie Kinsella. This could be read independently by beginning chapter book readers, but seems to be written as a book for parents and children to read together, specifically girls and their mothers. The book is narrated by Ella. She comes from a family that has a long line of female fairies. Her mom looks like a regular mom most of the time, but with her magic word, "Marchmallow" she becomes a fairy. Problem is, she is not very good at magic. The story is so much fun. Each chapter is about one of her spells and what happens when she tries. them. The story is also about Ella and how she copes with her bratty, not best friend, Zoe, who lives next door.

There are some pictures scattered within the book to break up the chapters and to interest younger readers. I would recommend this book to anyone age 7 and up. I love the back of the book where there are questions for parents and children or teachers and their classes as well as activities that go with the story. Messages about being patient, dealing with bullies or mean children and playing fair are all in the story and easily recognizable for discussion. I am waiting to see if the next book in the series is as cute as this one. A great book for families, primary classrooms and school libraries.

4.5/5 stars

Fairy Mom and Me is the first book in a new children's series by one of my favorite authors, Sophie Kinsella.

I decided to read this book with my 8 year old niece and she absolutely loved it. The UK version says that it is for 5-7 year olds. And while I do think that kids as young as 5 might enjoy the story, I don't know many 5 year olds that read 100+ page books.

My niece is 8 years old and the book was perfect for her because we would take turns reading the book.

The narrator is Ella. Her mom looks like a regular mom most of the time. But she can turn into a fairy. Ella has a bratty next door neighbor Zoe. Neither me nor my niece liked Zoe at all. She was very mean.

The story was really enjoyable. It was funny. My niece really enjoyed the spells. And she thought that it would be cool if it was real (that your mom could turn into a fairy).

Ella's mom was really sweet, but in many ways she was a hot mess. She was really bad at doing magic. So everything she tries to do ends up all wonky.

My niece really loved this book. She hated when we had to stop reading to go out. And she begged me to start again when we got home. Also we didn't have time to finish it the first day. When she came over the next day she immediately wanted to read it. She was sad when it ended and was happy to see that there would be a book two in the series.

Overall, I think that this is a wonderfully cute book for young girls. It is fairly long, but does have some pictures. It is the perfect book to read with a child.