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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Anyone know which book band the fairies series come under?

32 replies

mrsshears · 25/09/2011 20:41

DD has been given a whole bag full by a friend of ours and i'm curious as to what level they would come under?

TIA

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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eandemum · 25/09/2011 21:44

Hi - don't know the answer so I am watching this with interest.

My DD just read (more or less) her first one this week as she got the 1st one as a present - I'm assuming the ones by 'Daisy Meadows' - there are hundreds of them!!!!
Bk 1 was Ruby the Red Fairy

If it helps DD (5) is on ORT Level 4 and was told on Friday not ready yet for level 5

If bk 1 is anything to go by - they make Biff & Chip quite interesting!!
DD LOVES them though!!

meditrina · 25/09/2011 21:48

I'm quite interested in the answer too!

eandemum: I don't think you'll look so kindly at them when you've read your 50th! They all have exactly the same plot.

Original poster

mrsshears · 25/09/2011 22:06

Yes eandemum that's the ones!

Do they come in different levels or are they all about the same? the ones dd has all look about the same to me.

OP posts:

rebl · 25/09/2011 22:14

I'm quite interested in the answer. I have to say that I'm now trying to steer dd in a different direction, they're very samey.

blackeyedsusan · 25/09/2011 22:17

we have 42 of them.

Original poster

mrsshears · 25/09/2011 22:24

Its quite tricky with dd at the moment because what she is capable of reading and what she enjoys reading are two different things,
DD is 5 and on band 7/8 at school,she sees her school reading books as a necessary evil really but loves being read to,things like enid blyton and roald dahl but she would not be able to read these herself and keep track of what was happening in the story so i could do with something that would interest her and she could read for herself,so its a shame if these are a bit samey.

OP posts:

lostlady · 25/09/2011 22:27

The "oh,dear, all these hideously tedious books seem to have fallen into the charity shop" band

DeWe · 26/09/2011 12:48

They don't have different levels. I don't think they even have different stories do they?

Takver · 26/09/2011 13:13

mrsshears - just because they are samey doesn't mean she won't love them! Seriously, it doesn't matter that they are all the same, because she will read them to herself. I think in fact the repetition is what makes them so appealing to early readers.

I have no idea what bookband they would relate to, but could you just read her the first chapter or so & then see if she wants to carry on & read it herself?

Obv at school there are whole sets of criteria they have to fulfill to be at a certain level, but if she enjoys reading them, & you get a bit of peace & quiet, who cares

Lizcat · 26/09/2011 13:24

Just because they are samey please don't dismiss them. Little girls love them because they are predicatable, they meet the fairy at the end of the first chapter, a goblin at the end of the second chapter, defeat the goblins at the end of the fifth chapter and get their reward in the sixth chapter. Allow them to fire an enthusiasm of reading, let them read them alone. Once they have the reading fire in their belly then they will move on to other things.

DD who is nearly 8. Has devoured these in reception, year 1 and early year 2. Now she has moved on to other things, but they got her to read for the sheer joy of it, which is I feel what we are all aiming for.

joencaitlinsmum · 26/09/2011 13:45

My DD (8) is a free reader and is allowed to take her own books into school and sometimes chooses these.

I was told its not so much about "being able to read" books its more important they they get the comprehension of the stories after all that is how they set the SAT's for reading they are given a book to read then have to answer questions on the plot etc. Alot of children can read parrott fashion!

dizzyday07 · 26/09/2011 14:02

My DD is a Yr 2 (just turned 7) and has been reading these for a while and she loves them. She's on Stage 11 of the ORT books at school

newtermnewname · 26/09/2011 14:08

joencaitlinsmum They are given a booklet to read and then have to answer questions thereon in the SAT. They are not given a level according to what book they are currently reading in class.

MirandaWest · 26/09/2011 14:13

DD is in Year 1 and has recently started reading these. I will quite often read a chapter or so to her and then she sometimes reads quite a bit more. Was surprised one morning when she said she'd finished one after I said good night to her, but after asking her a few questions she knew just what had been going on (with specific points to the story in question rather than just the look for the fairy, find goblin, sort things out etc theme )

She is reading stage 8 ORT but the fairy books are a higher level I think.

joencaitlinsmum · 26/09/2011 14:25

newtermnewname I didnt say they were given levels from the SAT exams it was an example of how the comprehension of a book is as important to being able to read it.

In my opinion levels only serve a purpose for mothers to boast to other mothers how great there child is and is better than theirs!!

sittinginthesun · 26/09/2011 14:28

They count as "free reading" at my DC's school. From what I can make out (I help with books) they are read by girls in every year from Year 1 to Year 6! glad I have boys so only have to listen to Horrid Henry on repeat

newtermnewname · 26/09/2011 14:40

FREE READING! FAIRY BOOKS!? Ye Gods... presumably if a child can read "Ruby The Red Fairy" then they have mastered everything they need to know about literature...

eandemum · 26/09/2011 14:50

All th OP wanted to know was what sort of the level - it doesn't matter if We the mums don't like them does it!!

DOES ANYBODY KNOW THE ANSWER TO THE OP?!

I love gruesome crime fiction - but am delighted that my 5 year old loves fairies (and thinks they're real too)

On a tangent how old are your Dc when they stop believingin fairies?

sittinginthesun · 26/09/2011 15:10

Newterm - that's a point I have often wondered about. DS (year 3) had been a free reader since last year and has finished the school scheme ( mix of various other schemes). I am happy that he is actually able to read and understand all the scheme books, but now he has the pick of anything in the library.

School say just to encourage reading, but do other schools have a more structured way of dealing with "free reading"?

Sorry it's off point, OP.

MirandaWest · 26/09/2011 15:11

They are quite dire, but tbh the chick-lit I read is hardly much less dire .

I don't know what level they are but higher than level 8 :)

Don't know what DD's thoughts are on fairies although she and DS (7) are happy to believe in the tooth fairy

MirandaWest · 26/09/2011 15:12

DS in year 3 is now a free reader. He has a few books in his bag at the moment - will check with him whether they are guided at all or if they have completely free reign.

meditrina · 26/09/2011 15:13

sittinginthesun: just wait! Beast Quest will be coming to you....

Acinonyx · 26/09/2011 15:40

We have a lot of these. Having read them, they appear to be at different levels. The first series is the most accessible - the language is quite controlled in terms of vocab. sentence structure and topics. It reads as though someone actually thought about controlling the language level and keeping the level down for early readers of chapter books (Ruby was the first 'long' book dd ever read, somewhere between 4.5. and 5 yrs).

But many of the later ones are much less so - so the levels vary a lot. There appears to practically no language control over some of the later titles and I assume this is due to an increasing number of ghost writers writing to an expanding number of deadlines with little editorial input. I think they are missing a trick here by not organising sets into bands by difficulty.

piprabbit · 26/09/2011 16:10

meditrina · 26/09/2011 17:16

Our school had buckets of books, grouped and tagged to their NC level (it went up to lime). Some were from reading schemes (both UK and antipodean - reflecting staff backgrounds?) and some were ordinary books (eg Mr Majeika was in there). I liked there being a good mix.

I don't however agree with publishing an age range on a book's cover - too prescriptive, as chronological age and reading ability do not coincide.

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