Sophella’s Birthday Wish – 4 Star Book Review

Welcome to the May 10th stop on the blog tour for Sophella’s Birthday Wish by Maggi Nicholas, organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts & interviews, and a giveway! More on that at the end of this post.

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About the Book

Sophella’s Birthday Wish
by Maggi Nicholas

Published 15 December 2020
Tellwell Talent

Genre: Children’s Fiction
Page Count: 48
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Here is a modern fairy story about a little girl who has the gift to move between the fairy world and the human world. Her birthday wish comes true when she wishes to fly with the fairies, and so she is able to go on a magical journey with the fairies whilst using her human side to rescue animals and kids in a way that fairies cannot do. Throughout the journey she comes to realize her own strengths as she protects the penguins and rescues the dolphins with great bravery and compassion. During her heartwarming adventure. Sophella forms new friendships and demonstrates life-affirming lessons that can inspire us all.

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Excerpt

“Make a wish, make a wish!” chanted Sophella’s friends. They were at Sophella’s 8th birthday party and her friends were all gathered round her birthday cake.

There were 8 fairies on her birthday cake. Each wore a dress of a different colour purple, blue, yellow, green, aqua, peach and red but Sophella’s favorite was the fairy in pink. Sophella took a deep breath and blew out all the candles then closed her eyes and made a wish. “I wish I could fly like the fairies!”

My Review

My Rating: 4 Stars
Consider liking my review on Goodreads.

I was granted complimentary access to Sophella’s Birthday Wish to review as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with Goddess Fish Promotions. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own as my review is honest.

An 8 year old girl named Sophella makes a birthday wish to fly with faeries, and to her surprise her wish is granted. A faerie comes to her in her bedroom and promises to make her a fairy for a day, and Sophella spends the day flying around with several fairies and helping animals and people alike in need of help around the world.

The reading level, length, and density of paragraphs per page feels appropriate to readers around the main character’s own age; those on the cusp of moving on to chapter books and middle-grade novels. I wouldn’t recommend this for kindergarten-age readers (or listeners,) as they’ll lose interest. My only serious critique of the story itself is that there’s a lot of story space taken up by wardrobe discussions, and the dialogues surrounding clothing choices feel forced. The initial wardrobe conversation started out quite promising, with Sophella asking how this fairy could be a fairy if she dresses the way she does, and it seemed like it was going to be a progressive message about how identities don’t come with prescribed clothing, but then the fairy goes on to ask Sophella what she wants the fairy to wear for the day. (paragraphsed for subtlety:) “Do you want to me wear this? I could wear this in this colour.” “No, on second thought, what you were wearing is fine, but change the colours like this…” “Sure thing! Now what should we put you in?” And on it goes. Then when they get to different climates they have to choose accessories.

The illustrations are adorable and easy to stare at for far longer than it actually takes to read the page. The style feels vaguely chibi-inspired, and I love it.

Overall it’s a cute story about a girl who gets her wish and uses it to help others, and it feels appropriate for readers around the main charatcer’s age, 8 year old.

About the Author

Maggi was born and grew up in the UK and later moved to Canada with her husband and sons. Inspired by her grandkids, she started writing stories for and about them and is currently working on her next Sophella book, and a book aimed at a slightly older readership about time travellers.

Giveaway Alert!

Maggi Nicholas will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.