Tell me there is life after chuffing Rainbow Fairies.....

[DuchessOfAvon]

DD1 (just turned 6) LOVES Rainbow fairies. I can't bear them. I know that anything that encourages her to read independently is A Good Thing (although they aren't Good At All) but I am trying to keep up a counter-diet of good writing to help wean her away from the trash sparkly books.

Roald Dahl seems to be working but what else seduced your children way from the evil fairies?

Jacqueline Wilson.

Just done an advanced search on Rainbow Fairies and turned up hundreds of threads like this! I should have searched first and not clogged up the info highway.....

I think that Jacqueline Wilson is still a bit beyond DD1 but will keep her in the queue..... many thanks.

I may have to make a bonfire of them when DD1 finally does abandon them - I'd hate to think of another family suffering from them via the charity shop (which is where DD1 got all of hers, having blown all her holiday spending money on them...)

Surely writing these things must be the literary equivalent of a Macjob?

Captain Underpants

I've been happy enough with DD reading Rainbow Fairies because she churns through them so I think it's good for reading stamina. I have been trying to find other books to start her on but not successful in finding the right tone so far. Tried Ivy & Bean and Judy Moody but they were slightly too sophisticated in terms of story (esp JM) and my DD (who is 5) didn't really know what was going on because of all the American slang. Also I didn't really like them.

Tried some of the younger Roald Dahls (Twits, George's Marvellous Medicine) but she didn't at all like Danny the Champion of the World (which I read to her rather than her reading it herself) because it was too scary.

I've had success with Bad Cat Good Cat (Lynne Reid Banks) and all the My Naughtly Little Sister books but if anyone has any other recommendations then that would be great. I think she actually likes slightly old fashioned stories without the coolness of Judy Moody.

oh also "Oh Kitty" by Bel Mooney went down well.

Duchess - there are JW's for younger readers, which are funny and not so intense, eg The Dinosaur's Packed Lunch.
Then there are ones that are easy but also terribly tragic (The Cat Mummy) and of course those go down a treat.

DrJ'scat - We have had good success with The Giraffe, The Pelly & Me. We have now moved on to Charlie & The Chocolate Factory which is playing well to a receptive audience and I have Esio Trott lined up - which the lovely women in Waterstones assures me is a good one.

I am holding off Danny and Mr Fox for a while - she has a low threshold for trauma of any kind - the opening chapter of Heidi made her weep.

Famous Five was an epic fail.

She has loved Little House in the Big Woods although she does now have a recurring nightmare about Panthers - so if you try it, skip that chapter!

Ah yes, we had Rainbow Fairies by the yard [not exactly nostalgic emoticon].

Ivy and Bean moved my dd on - great stories.

My daughter loves rainbow fairies too.. but also Roald Dahl and David Walliams are much loved at the moment

How about the Polly Price books by Dee Shulman, they have helped my dd to kick her Rainbow habit. The latest one is Mum in Love - sort of younger illustrated in colour Wimpy Kid. She also loves Kes Gray's Daisy books.

Daisy and the Trouble With.... DD liked that series of books when she was smaller.

Ah yes. You still have to go through the My sodding Secret Unicorn and chuffing Magic Kitten/Puppy. Then it will be years of nothing but Jacqueline Wilson's Misery Tomes until they finally come out the other end, aged around 12, and start to read more widely.

Loving (and quaking) at Misery Tomes!

But what is this Unicorn of which you speak? This is a new one on me. I am not sure I like the sound of it.......

Rumer Godden? Lovely new edition of all the 'doll books' www.amazon.co.uk/Fairy-other-Tales-Dolls-House/dp/0230755054/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_4
Milly Molly Mandy? My naughty little Sister? Ramona and Beezus?

Yy Daisy.

Also Dick King-Smith. Sophie is a great antidote to those flipping fairies.

And definitely, ESPECIALLY, Jeremy Strong. I defy anyone to read My Dad's Got An Alligator! without cracking up laughing.

Be strong - keep the faith and you will survive. We had to suffer the boy's equivalent Beast Quest but DS did move on eventually. Think I might prefer hot wax dripping in my eye to reading another of those!

Daisy & M-M-M & Naughty Little Sister are all much loved but DD1 has moved on from them. I found a Sophie book in the local charity shop so we'll give that a go.

I always forget about Jeremy Strong...thanks for the reminder.