Mab was named after a Fairy Queen. All because her mum loves fairies, no wait. She’s obsessed.
Do you believe in fairies? As a kid, I would answer yes, yes, yes, every day. I had a collection of fairy novels growing up. It was the only book series I read for years, and reading the blurb in a local Waterstones reminded me of the Rainbow Magic Series. At least that’s what I think the book series is called and it seems as though it’s never-ending. More and more books keep appearing on the shelves, so Jack Frost doesn’t want to give up it seems.
Mab’s mother’s flat is an image of Christmas. Fairy lights in every room; even the bathroom and she’s the only who seems to be sick of it. Mab just doesn’t get it. Some how though, fairies has made her mum happy. Especially, since Mab and brother Robin’s father left the family. Robin is quite a lot younger than Mab at least that’s the image that Jacqueline Wilson presents.
Mab and Robin have only just been reunited with their mother after leaving foster care. Mab is certain adding to her mum’s worries means she and Robin will return to foster care. But money is tight, and with musty wallpaper peeling off the walls and growing out rapidly of school uniforms, it’s not surprising Mab can witness her mother struggling.
When starting a new school project Mab is able to temporarily forget about her home life worries and the girl drama in and out of the classroom. Her teacher gifts her a book where Mab’s perception of fairies is challenged. The images from the Victorian era are nothing to the sugar pink, woodland scenes that her mum believes whole heartedly.
Now I know that it’s best to leave dandelions in full bloom. You’re not supposed to blow the seeds across the countryside otherwise it endangers the bees and butterflies. But as a kid I used to blow these seeds and watch them fly away saying “they’re fairies flying.” Also, I believed in the tooth fairy until I was almost ten-years old. Honestly, I can’t remember the exact age I was, but Mab uncovers a secret that’s living proof that fairies exist.
Now as an adult, I can’t imagine now that there’s living fairies, but perhaps it’s good to refer to nature as fairy magic – where bees and butterflies are the creatures that fly. What Jacqueline Wilson has done, I believe is very clever. This is a book showcasing the perspectives as a child and how they change as you develop into on adult. Wilson jumps into the mind of a child and points the question when are you going to get the chance to change the course of your life? All I can say is think of Aladdin. One wish granted with the outcome very different. Considering I haven’t read a Jacqueline Wilson book since I was nineteen; on holiday in Italy. You know what I lie, I read Sapphire Battersea two years ago.
Jumping back into a Jacqueline Wilson novel after two years it has been a treat. It’s reminded me of the book series that kept me reading as a kid. Thrown in real life situations; single working parents struggling to look after two children under ten. Perhaps that’s why Mab and Robin’s mum obsesses over fairies in the story book world. The stresses of life mean she needs her own escape. As we all do, am I right?
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