Camilla, the Cupcake Fairy by Tim Bugbird; Illustrated by Lara Ede

*Picture book, fantasy for preschoolers through second graders
*Young fairy girl as the main character
*Rating: Camilla, the Cupcake Fairy is a cute book with REALLY cute illustrations. I think I might like the illustrations better than the story, but my daughter (2) loves both. It does have a good message about working together for preschoolers.

Short, short summary: Camilla is waiting for her birthday present–a wand! She is so excited to get it that she doesn’t really take the time to learn how to use it. She is trying to magically make icing appear on her giant cupcake, and she gets mixed results. She wants to give up, but her friends chime in, they work together, and finally get the wand to work.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Lessons abound in this book–but in a fun way. One of them is learning to use your toys in the right way and being careful/responsible with them. If Camilla would have taken time to learn how to use her magic wand, then she might have been able to icing it the right way the first time. Ask children to think about something at home or at school that they had to learn to use before they could play with it/use it properly. If they run out of ideas, you could give them suggestions such as a tricycle, a computer game, crayons/markers, etc. Ask children to draw a picture of them successfully using a new toy.

2. FRIENDSHIP is another great theme in this book. In the end, Camilla gets her wand to work because she works together with her friends. You can ask children what they like to do with their friends. You can also ask them times when they might have to use teamwork. Make a list and hang it up in your room or in your child’s room if you are doing this at school. For children who don’t read, put picture symbols next to the list, so they can remember times to use teamwork.

3. Just for fun, ask children: If you could decorate your own cupcake, what would you put on it? Then do a shared writing with the stem: My cupcake would be_____________________. Children copy this sentence on a picture of an un-iced cupcake and then decorate their cupcake to match their sentence.