Even now, whenever I wander around nature areas in Durham, I cannot help but wonder at the possibility of existence of magic and fairies. Moreover, being situated in a city densely populated by high-rise buildings and hills, I had never seen the end of a rainbow, and thus the idea of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was all the more enchanting, symbolising another world of infinite possibilities and wonderful ‘magic’ with emphasis on the prominence of nature and kindness in humanity (and fairies). Also, although talking animals were popular in cartoons and children TV shows, they nevertheless did not portray as Daisy Meadows did the lifelike interactions among animals, fairies and humans that made it very believable to a child’s heart. However, I was mesmerised by the idea of fairies riding on the back of a squirrel and it jumping bravely from a branch to another, not having seen a squirrel in my life (it is not a tropical animal). Even though I did not notice at the time, every book I read before Saffron the Yellow Fairy and Fern the Green Fairy was not concerned with nature in particular, and was either family- or school-oriented. Among all, the Rainbow Fairies series was one that influenced me the most, shaping my view of and attitude to nature that is life-changing. Often I thought to myself, would there be a group of stationery fairies, or maybe subject fairies or homework fairies who would be frustrated when kids were kept from completing their homework properly because of mischiefs by Jack Frost and his goblins? However, I soon realised that the Rainbow Magic world was a utopia (at least to a child) with norms different from our own, in which vacations were homework-free.Įnchanted by the graciousness of the fairies and the overwhelming positivity conveyed, I binge-read one set after another. But, most of all, being born and raised in Hong Kong, a city which education system was notorious for demanding children to memorise by rote from a very young age, which was compared to spoon-feeding, or indeed, stuffing a duck, my fascination with the book series mostly stemmed from the care-free lifestyle that the children led. Even as a young child, I admired Rachel and Kirsty’s parents for their trust and kindness to one another despite having just met, and that both pairs of parents so very kindly took pains organising trips for the kids whenever they were on vacation, in addition to the fairies’ friendliness and kindness to a pair of humans, which were creatures they only heard of from the fairy king and queen but never interacted with. As I read Katie the Kitten Fairy, I was captivated by the innocent beauty and simplicity of life in both the human world and the fairy kingdom. As I began to flip through the pages, so did my reading journey unfold.įor those who guessed that the book was part of the Rainbow Magic series, you are right. One day, as I was going through a pile of English books given by my cousin, a book with a fairy in the middle with a rainbow in the corner in a bright blue background stood out. Rainbow Magic – my favourite book series as a child that shaped my view of natureĮditor's Picks Literature on 21 February, 2021.Īs a young child in my extended family, I was often gifted a lot of items that my older cousins grew out of.
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