All the children kept jumping backward. All the teachers were calling, “This way! Jump forward!” Then it was my turn. I ran to the sand tray. Step, step, jump! I landed in the sand with a crash and Aunty Jo cheered.
“Very good!” said Miss Allen. “Since nobody else jumped the right way, you are the winner, Ella.”
“Hooray!” yelled Aunty Jo, waving her arms. “Ella’s the winner! Ella gets another gold medal!”
I didn’t feel as happy as I had expected. I didn’t feel like a real winner. I had only won because everyone else went backward.
“Wait!” Mom shouted. I was amazed, because Mom had become a fairy in front of everyone. She waved her Computawand and said, “Freezeridoo!”
Everyone except Mom and Aunty Jo and me went still. All the teachers and parents and children were like statues—and as I looked at them, I started to giggle. Tom was standing on one leg. Mr. Wilson, the principal, was scratching his head. Zoe had her finger up her nose.
No one could see or hear us.
Mom turned to Aunty Jo with an angry look on her face.
“What have you done?” she said. “You promised not to put a spell on Ella.”
“I didn’t put a spell on Ella,” said Aunty Jo. “I put spells on all the other children. First a Slow-Down spell, then a Go-Backward spell. Aren’t I clever?”
She winked at me, but I didn’t know whether to smile back.
“No, you are not clever!” said Mom. “I told you not to use any spells. I never use magic at Ella’s school.”
“That’s because—” Aunty Jo stopped.
“What?” Mom asked. “Because what?”
“Because you aren’t very good at magic,” Aunty Jo said.
Mom started breathing hard. I think she was trying not to get angry. But I felt angry.
“Mom is good at magic!” I said to Aunty Jo. “She can fly! And she can turn invisible! She’s the best mom in the world!”
“Sorry.” Aunty Jo bit her lip. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
“Maybe I am not as good at magic as you,” Mom said to Aunty Jo. “Maybe I don’t have any gold medals. But I try hard. And Ella tries hard at sports. And that is what field day is all about. Trying hard. Isn’t it, Ella?”
I nodded, even though I still really wanted a gold medal.
Aunty Jo looked down at the grass. “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done any spells. And I shouldn’t have been rude about your magic,” she said to Mom. “I’m very sorry.”
Then I had an idea. I remembered a spell I had seen on Mom’s Spell App.
“Mom,” I said, “can we start field day again? Can we use the Rewinderidoo spell?”
Mom’s eyes sparkled at me. “That’s a wonderful idea, Ella!” she said. “We’ll go back to the beginning of the field day and start again with no spells. Okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Aunty Jo said. “Good luck, Ella!”
Mom got out her Computawand and looked at it. Then she stopped.
“The Rewinderidoo spell is very tricky,” she said. I could see she was nervous. “I’ve never done it before without help. I hope it goes right.” Then she looked at Aunty Jo. “I wonder if…”
“Let’s do it together,” said Aunty Jo, and she winked at me. She stamped her feet three times, clapped her hands, wiggled her behind and said, “Strawberry shortcake,”…and POOF! She was a fairy, with shimmering wings and a diamond crown and a shiny Computawand.
Together, Mom and Aunty Jo Fairy pressed the special code on their screens—bleep-bleep-bloop.
“Rewinderidoo!” they shouted together, and everything started going backward. It was like when they do a rewind on TV. I could see Zoe running backward. I could see Lenka eating a cookie backward. Then I saw Tom blowing his nose backward. That made me laugh.
Suddenly the rewinding stopped. We were in the field, at the beginning of field day again. Mom and Aunty Jo were back to normal.
“Welcome to field day!” said Miss Allen. “Now, let’s begin!”
This time, no one ran slowly or jumped backward. Zoe won three gold medals for running and I made myself clap hard when she went up to get them. Zoe is very good at running, even if she isn’t a nice person.
Then it was the three-legged race. I was with Tom. Lenka was with Zoe. Our legs were tied together and we had to run in time with each other.
“Now, children, don’t rush,” said Miss Allen before the race started. “You have to work as a team.”
When the race began, Tom and I started counting. “One-two. One-two.” We weren’t very fast, but we ran along in time with each other. I could hear Zoe yelling, “Hurry up, stupid!” to Lenka. The next minute, Zoe and Lenka had fallen over on the grass.
But Tom and I didn’t look back. We didn’t need to shout at each other, because we were friends and friends don’t shout. We just kept on going “One-two, one-two…” until suddenly we had crossed the line. We had won the race!
Miss Allen gave Tom and me each a shiny gold medal. Aunty Jo and Mom waved their arms and cheered and hugged each other. And I felt really happy. I had won a race for real this time.
“Well done, Ella!” Tom said to me.
“Well done, Tom!” I said to Tom, and we both laughed.
“Let’s go and get some ice cream as a treat!” said Mom. “Tom, you come too.”
Then Zoe walked up to us. She looked at me with small, angry blue eyes and said, “How did you win a race, Ella? You’re not good at sports.”
I thought about Aunty Jo’s magic spells. I thought about running faster than everyone else, and jumping the right way when everyone else went backward. Then I thought about winning the race with Tom, without any magic at all. And I thought about Mom and Aunty Jo doing the Rewinderidoo spell together.
“I won because Tom and I are friends and we worked as a team,” I said. “That is the best way to win.” And I put on my shiny gold medal and smiled.
Family Activity Guide
Reading a book together as a family creates a lasting bond and sparks good conversation between parents and their children. Fairy Mom and Me is funny and entertaining, and raises important lessons about patience and teamwork. The discussion questions below are intended to promote creative and critical thought, and should be used after the book has been read in its entirety.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Ella’s worst enemy is Zoe. Discuss what Zoe does to Ella that makes them enemies. Talk about ways to deal with kids like Zoe.
2. What is “cool” about Ella’s mom? How is Ella a “cool” kid? What do you like best about their relationship? How do Ella and her mom reveal their true character at the end of the novel?
3. Explain why Ella’s mother turns off the magic function on the games and apps when Ella is playing with the Computawand V5. At what age do you think Ella should be allowed to use the magic functions?
4. The fact that Ella’s mom is a fairy must be kept secret. What might happen if others find out the truth about her mom’s magical abilities?
5. How does Ella’s dad doubt his wife’s ability to perform magic? Why does he think there is “too much magic” in the house? How might he react when Ella is old enough to become a fairy?
6. Which of the “spells gone wrong” is the funniest? How does Ella help her mom when the spells are out of control?
7. What is the purpose of Fairy Dust? Explain what might have happened in the grocery story had Ella’s mom not used Fairy Dust.
8. Ella and her mom work together to clean the kitchen after Ollie makes a mess. Ella’s mom says, “We don’t always need magic, do we?” (on this page). What is the magic in working together to complete a task? How might this apply in your own family?
9. Ella’s mother attempts to cure herself of the fairy flu. What goes wrong? Explain Granny’s reaction.
10. Ella’s mom is an impatient fairy. How is patience a part of life? Relate a time when impatience has made life complicated for you.
11. How is Aunty Jo better at magic than Ella’s mom? Debate whether Ella’s mom is jealous of Aunty Jo. What happens when Aunty Jo misuses magic?
12. Ella’s mom tells Aunty Jo that using magic to help Ella win at field day is “cheating.” Discuss whether the same argument could have been used with Ella’s mom when she tried to use magic in the supermarket to speed up the checkout line.
13. Define friendship from Ella’s point of view. Describe Ella and Tom’s friendship. How does their friendship promote teamwork? Discuss how teamwork helps them win the three-legged race at field day.
FAMILY ACTIVITIES
Choose the activities most suitable for your family.
1. Together, write a sentence that appropriately describes each chapter title.
2. Create a job description for a Fairy Teacher like Fenella. Are there special qualifications? (For example, “Must be proficient at working the Computawand V5.”) Is there required attire? What are the working hours?
3. The Fairy Rule Book states that a fairy can only use the Fixeridoo spell once a week. Make an illustrated Fairy Rule Book for Ella’s mother. Include at least ten rules and spells.
4. Think about what happens when Ella’s mother tries to cure herself of the fairy flu. Make a short video about the flying bed story as told by the man on the roof to be aired on the nightly news of a Cherrywood television station.
5. Think about how fairies move. How do they walk or run? Do they dip and sway? Are they graceful? How do they use their arms and hands? Then choreograph a Fairy Dance to appropriate music. Use scarves and other accessories around the house to make a Fairy Dance costume.
6. As a family, read aloud several fairy tales. Note the following elements of a typical fairy tale:
Often begins with “Once upon a time”
Happens in the past
Has a problem to be solved
Features both good and evil characters
Things often happen in threes
Features an element of magic
Ends happily ever after
Then choose a favorite part of Fairy Mom and Me and tell it as a fairy tale. Embellish it to include the above elements.
7. Make a pair of fairy wings that Granny might give to Ella when she grows up and becomes a fairy.
8. Make a fairy necklace for Ella using beads, pipe cleaners, glitter, or other fun materials found around the house.
9. Bake cookies in the shape of a magic wand that Aunty Jo might bring to Ella’s house to celebrate her medal at field day. Decorate the cookies with Fairy Dust made with colored sugar or sprinkles.
10. Create a Fairy Garden using items found around the house. There are numerous sites on the Internet that give step-by-step instructions. The following is especially helpful: youtube.com/watch?v=IZlyWoW7Rww.
FINDERIDOO!
Can you spot Fairy Mom’s favorite things in the word search?
(Answers on this page)
About the Author
SOPHIE KINSELLA is a bestselling author. The adventures of Ella and Fairy Mom are her first stories for children. Her books for grown-ups have sold over thirty-eight million copies worldwide and have been translated into more than forty languages. They include the Shopaholic series and other titles, such as Can You Keep a Secret? and The Undomestic Goddess, and Finding Audrey for young adults.
Adults (including Fairy Moms everywhere) can follow her on social media:
@KinsellaSophie
SophieKinsellaOfficial
sophiekinsellawriter
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Sophie Kinsella, Fairy Mom and Me
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