We're Off To Find a Fairy

A family sets off in the countryside one day to find a fairy - they know that a fairy has fluttery wings and a glowing wand, and that it sits in the grass and sparkles. Surely it won't be too difficult to find?

Yet as the adults and children explore the woodland, they find bees, butterflies, a red squirrel, a beetle and, finally, when it's getting dark and they've been searching hard all day, glow-worms.

Despite not being able to find a fairy, the family have instead been careful enough to spot a number of endangered woodland species - all of which fulfil at least one of the fairy's characteristics.

Depicting a mixed race family with a child in a wheelchair, We're Off To Find A Fairy is slightly reminiscent of We're Going On A Bear Hunt in that it features an ongoing rhyme on every page, and on each double page spread, the family finds a new and interesting creature.

It's always nice to see incidental diversity in books - that is, where the book isn't about being a mixed race family or about having a disabled child; the family are just out having a brilliant and educational day together in nature. Additionally, we learn a little bit about some endangered British species along the way. Lovely.