I am on a quest to become knowledgeable about children's fantasy literature. And I could never make that claim without reading the hugely popular Daisy Meadows Rainbow Magic series. There are over 200 of them. I read seven, and since they all have the same plot, I feel I have done my duty. I read Bailey the Babysitter Fairy most recently.

Plot of all of them: Rachel and Kirsty, BFFs, must help _____ [insert female name] the ______ [insert noun] Fairy to recover her magic ________[insert item type]. The nasty goblins have stolen it! She cannot do her important work without it, which causes lots of problems in the human and fairy worlds. Since this conveniently never occurs on a school day, Rachel and Kirsty cheerfully set to work recovering it. At some point in the story they briefly transform into fairies and there is a chase/action scene. They outsmart the foolish goblins, recover the item. No violence ever occurs. The _____ Fairy is grateful and all is well again. Hurray!

The goblins, who are always male, seem to be based on boys who sit at the back of the classroom making trouble because they are bored. The fairies, always female, are very responsible and kind, as are Rachel and Kirstie. They are always optimistic, never argue, and always strive to do the right thing.

I was puzzled for a while about the fairy's reproductive cycle. At first I thought perhaps that magical cloning is involved. But now I lean toward a theory that fairies and gnomes are actually the same species. I suspect they are similar to social insects, such as honeybees. There's a queen/mother, some male drones that get in the way (aka goblins), and a bunch of helpful female worker bees (aka fairies). There is also a fairy king and a couple of princes. I don't know how they fit in. Maybe, when a goblin and a fairy fall in love, he is transformed into a more presentable appearance. Like Beauty and the Beast.

I cannot decide how many stars to give this. I got great enjoyment from reading it (5 stars?) but not for any of the reasons the Daisy Meadow team intended. (1 star?) So it shall remain starless.