The Blurb On The Back:
Isadora Moon is special because she is different.
Her mum is a fairy and her dad is a vampire and she is a bit of both.
When Isadora is invited to stay at her friend Zoe’s house she’s so excited – she hasn’t been to a sleepover before!
And with cakes to bake, a midnight feast to eat and endless magical giggles to share, they just have to stay up all night to fit it all in!
You can order Isadora Moon Has A Sleepover by Harriet Muncaster from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK. I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.
The Review (Cut For Spoilers):
Isadora Moon is very excited. Her teacher, Miss Cherry has told the class that they are going to have a baking competition and the two students who bake the best cake will be given tickets to be in the studio audience for the final of the TV show Sponge And Sparkles. Isadora and her best friend, Zoe, are determined to win – so much so, that Zoe invited Isadora to bake the cake at her house over the weekend and then have a sleepover afterwards, which excites Isadora even more as she has never been to a sleepover before!
But Zoe’s determination to win the competition means she asks Isadora to do some things that she’s uncomfortable with. How far will Zoe go to win, and will Isadora go along with her to keep their friendship?
The 9th in Harriet Muncaster’s self-illustrated fantasy series for children aged 6+ is a decidedly pink and sparkly affair about friendship and what to do if you think that your friend wants you to do something wrong. It’s a very girly book but that’s no bad thing and I think that there’s plenty here for children to relate to – and I did like the magically alive monkey and pink rabbit.
Although this is the 9th in the ISADORA MOON SERIES, you don’t need to have read the previous books in order to follow this one. Isadora’s half-fairy, half-vampire background skewered towards the fairy side in this book (which is find if your little reader is into pink and sparkly, but not so much if they’re into dark and fangy) although there is a nice scene between Isadora and her vampire father.
I very much enjoyed the depiction of her friendship with Zoe, especially the slight note of envy that Zoe has given that Isadora can do magic with her wand. Muncaster is particularly good at showing how Zoe’s requests (although not malicious in intent) increasingly makes Isadora uneasy until she’s really facing a bit of a moral quandary. There’s no judgment in this and Muncaster does well at balancing Isadora’s discomfort with what she’s being asked to do with the value she puts on her friendship with Zoe in a way that I think children of the target age group will find easy to relate to and understand.
There are some very cute scenes in the book – my favourite being when Isadora brings Zoe’s toy monkey to life and it plays with Pink Rabbit – and the illustrations really add to this. This is a very pink and sparkly book and I have to say I find it difficult to think that boys will readily want to read it – that’s not a criticism but I do think it’s a shame because there’s a lot here that they can benefit from and really, who doesn’t love toys coming to life?
All in all, I thought this was a smart, entertaining book and I’d happily check out the rest of this series.
ISADORA MOON HAS A SLEEPOVER was released in the United Kingdom on 7th March 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
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