Beaver Towers by Nigel Hinton

The Beaver Towers series was a favourite of both mine and my brother’s when we were children and I was excited to be able to share it with Henry.

When we were at Primary School (in the late 1980’s!), Nigel Hinton visited and our original 3 books (first two my brothers, third mine) were all signed by him and the first one was the one I shared with Henry.

The first story in the series – Beaver Towers introduces us to the main characters. Philip is a human boy who gets magicked away to an island by his kite. On the island he finds himself being considered ‘The Saver’ by a group of talking animals. Most of the animals on the island have been captured by the witch Oyin and her evil creatures – the Growlers. The few that remain include an elderly Beaver called Mr Edgar, his Grandson, Baby B and Mrs Badger who looks after them.

The animals have only a few days before Oyin returns to the island and claims it to be her own, destroying all the animals. Mr Edgar uses magic to send for a ‘Saver’ but Philip was not really what they had in mind.

The story follows the adventures of Philip, Mr Edgar and Baby B as they try to defeat Oyin and the Growlers.

I thoroughly enjoyed sharing this book with Henry – he said his favourite character is Baby B as he is so funny and he is right, there were lots of chuckles at his exploits through the book. Henry said the best part was when the animals were rescued and when Baby B made up stories about the rescue. He really liked that Baby B muddled up his words too!

The chapters are varying lengths so we didn’t always read the same amount each night. I was a little concerned Henry might be bothered by some of the scarier bits with Oyin at bedtime but they didn’t seem to bother him at all. If a child is sensitive, it might be worth reading the book beforehand to make sure they wouldn’t be scared.

It is a great book and we have already started reading the second in the series – The Witches Revenge.

There are 4 books in total, the final one written much more recently so I haven’t read it myself yet – I will look forward to sharing it with Henry soon!

Freya the Friday Fairy by Daisy Meadows, illustrated by Georgie Ripper

The Rainbow Magic stories by Daisy Meadows are extremely popular with young girls in particular and there are now many different ‘sub series’ focusing on a range of fairies. 

This particular book that we read with Pippa was a chapter book but she has also read some of the beginning and early readers to herself. 

Freya the Friday Fairy is part of the ‘Fun Day Fairies’ sub series – 7 books focusing on each of the days of the week’s Fairy. 

It is a story about 2 girls – Rachel and Kirsty who have a special secret – they are friends with the fairies and are helping them find the Fun Day Flags which the fairies use to recharge their magic. 

They have to outwit Jack Frost and his goblins who are after the flags too. The story follows their adventures as they try to retrieve Freya the Friday fairy’s flag. 

The chapters are around 20 pages long with line drawn illustrations on most pages, so we usually read a chapter per night. 

It is a fairly simple story so easy for Pippa to follow with good vs bad and the added attraction of fairies. 

The girls are easy for Pippa to relate to and she liked the Magic, she enjoyed the baddies and liked the idea of Jack Frost being in charge of them! 

Overall, it was an easy enjoyable read, perfect for fairy loving children and I’m certain Pippa will be looking out for more of the Rainbow Magic fairies!