What a perfect and beautiful fairy story.

Sometimes you just have to be your own Fairy Godmother


Seems to be the central message of The Fairy Doll by Rumer Godden, first published in 1956. This is the first of her children’s books that I’ve read and it’s a Christmas book as the Fairy in question is the one that sits on the top of the tree in Elizabeth’s house each year


Elizabeth is the youngest of her four siblings, perpetually teased and left behind, so that she gradually loses confidence in her ability to do anything…until that is Great Grandma gifts Elizabeth the fairy doll to look after her all year


Godden really seems to understand how is feels to be left out and frustrated because you’re “too little.” There’s a lack of sentimentality in her work that stops this from tipping into tweeness

This was such a magical story for me when I was a child! It was a treasured favorite of mine which I hung onto for years.

I reread this old favorite a couple evenings ago. There is just the smidge of magic in this story about Elizabeth, the youngest of four children, and how she learns to have faith in herself.

I love this author, but this book was full of anti-fat messages and other dated viewpoints.

I am finding new good children authors for me these days. The end of the year is always rough for me, so I try to compensate by reading like crazy. This was a very good story, but I feel I haven't found my favorite book by Rumer Godden yet.

P.S. I always look for a perfect Christmas tree doll during the season, but still haven't found it.

Such a sweet little story about the magic in (certain) toys.
Looking forward to reading more by this author!

Sometimes Godden is more successful. This one is not obscurely [L]iterary, but is still full of lovely language and worth rereading for more nuances. Along with The Mousewife I think it's my favorite by her.

Read in a collection, sans art.

A really charming book. Abby really enjoyed this one.

Not quite as complex or dark as Rumer Godden's earlier The Doll's House, The Fairy Doll is nevertheless a winsome fairy-tale set in 1950s England. There's a Christmas tree ornament which may or may not have magical powers and a small, bullied girl who needs some self-confidence. What lifts this fable above the ordinary is Godden's ability to inhabit a child's point of view and most of all, her evocative writing, full of detail about Christmas traditions familiar to children at the time but now relegated to history- the "silvered nuts" and "transparent boxes of rose petals and violets and mimosa" that hang from the tree. Magical.

Not sure why this says it's from 2006. The Fairy Doll is a VERY old book. We're talking' 1940s. I had an original that was a library discard when I was little, and read it god knows how many times. Will investigate!

**UPDATE** Yeah, okay. 1956. Now I miss my original copy.

This is a cute story on what it's like to be the baby of the family .