Silvermist and the Ladybug Curse »

NOTHING RATTLES SILVERMIST. She’s the calmest water-talent fairy around, and as cool as a deep mountain lake. But then an “unlucky” white ladybug lands on Silvermist’s head, and her orderly world goes topsy-turvy. She’s never been the type of fairy to lose things or have accidents or make mistakes . . . until now. Silvermist doesn’t believe in bad luck and silly old fairy superstitions. But all her troubles began after she found the white ladybug. Could the other fairies be right? Is Silvermist really under a curse?

Children's Literature

As another entry in the "Disney Fairies" series, this title might appeal to some girls who are avid readers of any kind of fantasy. There really is not much substance to this story as the plot is not very original and the characters are totally predictable. Silvermist is a "water-talent" fairy whose best friend is Fira, a "light-talent' fairy. Vidia is a thoroughly unpleasant fairy who enjoys making mischief and blaming the others for her mishaps. While on the way to a picnic, she tips over Silvermist's canoe but declares loudly that it was Silvermist's fault. As they are playing a game, a white ladybug lands on Silvermist's head and all the others are very upset because they believe that this will bring bad luck to Silvermist. Of course Silvermist thinks it is just a silly superstition, but almost immediately things begin to happen. She crashes into a tree, her wing knocks over a line of filled water pitchers, and trying to find a pin to break the spell ends badly, too. Of course all ends well when she wins the waterball contest in dramatic fashion. The illustrations look like all the other Disney characters from films and books—only the names are different. There is really no need to acquire this disappointing paperback. Reviewer: Sylvia Firth