Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg

Gail Carson Levine has a well-earned reputation as one of the best authors for middle-grade children, through such books as "Ella Enchanted," "The Two Princesses of Bamarre" and the Princess Tales series. Indeed she has made something of an industry out of re-working, up-dating (and vastly improving) traditional European fairy tales. The results are amusing, engaging, sophisticated stories filled with subtle lessons, interesting plot twists, and fully-realized characters. Kids love 'em, and parents love 'em. And so it is no wonder that Disney turned to Levine to write the inaugural book in a planned series of fairy stories. In "Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg" we are introduced (re-introduced) to the Neverland of Tinker Bell and Peter Pan. But, as usual for Levine, she has re-imagined and added depth to Neverland. Even Tinker Bell, a stereotypical one-note character in Disney's hands becomes an interesting, intelligent and attractive person in Levine's tale. Levine invents a new world, with its own history and magical rules, and populates it with interesting characters. In the subsequent books in this series, five so far, many of these characters get their own story and their own adventure (more on that later). "Quest for the Egg" is the tale of Prilla, a brand-new fairy of a kind never known before in Neverland. At first, both Prilla and the other fairies do not know what to make of her, but by the end of the tale, Prilla and the others find love and acceptance for each other. Along the way, there are discoveries and adventure with a mean-spirited dragon, haughty mermaids, and even a comical Captain Hook. Throughout, Levine moves the story along with a clear emphasis upon characters, relationships, feelings and motivations. It's not just one darn thing after another, as in so many kids books where the adventure happens to the characters, rather than through them. The subsequent Disney fairies books take place in Levine's Neverland and use the characters that Levine invented, but they are otherwise quite different. Where Levine's story is full of surprises and depth, the other fairy stories are more predictable and straightforward. Don't get me wrong, they are nice stories and young readers will enjoy them, but they are in a different league. Whereas the other fairy stories are short, easy to read paperbacks, "Quest for the Egg" is a longer hardcover book. Similarly, the illustrations in the subsequent books are very nice and fairy-like, and they employ the same curvy style of painting as "Quest for the Egg", but the pictures in the original book are more like art for their own sake, and less like accompanying illustrations. Just another step up from the typical. I strongly recommend this book for children ages 8 through 12, and even older. Adults even. I found that this was a wonderful book to read aloud with my daughter. The subsequent fairy books are fine, but you can just let the kids read those for themselves, wh

I got this book three days ago and read it three times. I intend to read it again since it has such an interesting view of Neverland. The story is about how Neverland starts and how the people living there never grow old. It focuses on the fairies more then Peter Pan and what Neverland would be like without fairie dust and Mother Dove (the fairies source of dust) and her egg which keeps the whole of Neverland going and young. Prilla is a newly arrived fairie when an incident happens which sends the whole of Neverland spinning. A hurricane hits and Mother Doves egg breaks! Mother Dove grows very weak since she knows her egg is gone and the fairies wont have dust and the people and animals will grow old and die. Mother Dove turns to a new possibility that Kyto an imprisoned dragon can restore the egg. Kyto is mean and he wont mend the egg from pity so Mother Dove sends Prilla and two other fairies to collect rare items to give to Kyto in return for mending the egg. Will they succeed and get the egg fixed before Mother Dove dies? This is a great read and it is sooooo exciting that I could not put it down.

I just finished this book a few minutes ago. It is my favorite book by her. I am in 4th grade and I just love this book. It has a lot of adventure and it is about Prilla the fairy finding her talent. If you like her other books you will love this one! Please try this book and if you do, you will love it!

When a baby giggles, the giggle finds its way to Never Land, and a new fairy is born. This is how Prilla, the newest fairy, arrives in Never Land. However, Never Land is unsure as to whether or not she should be permitted entrance to Fairy Land. After all, she's one very peculiar fairy. For instance, unlike other Never fairies, Prilla greets her newfound friends with a handshake, and the words "Pleased to meet you," as opposed to saying "Fly with you." As if that weren't bad enough, she refers to Tinker Bell - a pots and pans fairy, and the star fairy of J.M. Barrie's classic PETER PAN - as Miss Bell. Let's face it, Prilla acts much more like a Clumsy - a human being - than an ethereal fairy; and to make matters worse, she has no talent. But Mother Dove, the God-like creature of Never Land has faith in Prilla, and thinks that she does have a talent, she simply hasn't found it yet. So when Mother Dove's egg is lost in a huge storm, Prilla, along with two fellow fairies, Rani and Vidia, set out on a quest that will lead them past mermaids, a golden hawk, an evil dragon, and Captain Hook, and test the fate of Never Land. I have been a fan of Gail Carson Levine since I read ELLA ENCHANTED, so when I heard that FAIRY DUST AND THE QUEST FOR THE EGG was being released, I knew that I just had to have it. After all, Tinkerbell - one of my favorite Disney characters - was going to have a large part in the story. Upon purchasing the book, my attention was captured by the marvelous story Levine had woven. However, the illustrations by David Christiana made my jaw drop in awe. Even if you are not a fan of Gail Carson Levine or fairy stories, this is a book that everyone should own for the art alone. Christiana has an unbelievable amount of talent, and truly brings the story to life with his gorgeous illustrations. Together, he and Levine have created a wonderful book that will go down in history for its imagination and illustration. A must have book in everyone's home library. Erika Sorocco Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Being a huge fan of both Disney's Tinkerbell and the incredibly talented Gail Carson Levine, I was very excited to find this book. Ms. Levine has an uncanny knack for keeping readers involved with the story, about a new fairy to Neverland who feels out of place because she can't find her own talent. I thought it witty that Tinkerbell's talent was to fix pots and pans (thus for the first part of her name "Tinker"). The illustrations are done in watercolor - gorgeously portraying Neverland and it's inhabitants as the adventure goes along. Overall, I would absolutely encourage everyone who loves imagination to purchase this book, whether they are Disney or Ms. Levine's fans or not. Simply Stunning!