These are both new titles in Oxford Children’s Books series for young readers – thanks to the publisher for sending them for review.

Isadora Moon and the Frost Festival
Harriet Muncaster

Isadora Moon stars in – can you believe it – her 18th adventure and it starts on the morning of Midwinter’s Eve, a very special time for the entire Fairy Realm. With an invitation from her Aunt Crystal and Uncle Wren to stay in the Winter Fairy Realm, Isadora is super-excited. Having dressed in her warmest clothes (and dressed her beloved Pink Rabbit) she’s ready to depart just in time for Uncle and Aunt to pick them up in their sleigh. Once at Aunt Crystal’s and Uncle Wren’s home, there’s just time to build a snowman before they fly off to the Frost Festival.

What a lot is going on when they arrive. Isadora meets a silver fairy who introduces herself as Estrella and tells Isadora that she’s lost the star that’s needed to go atop the ice rink fir tree at midnight.

Isadora offers to help her look but in all the excitement she loses her parents. The two now have another search to undertake. As midnight draws ever closer Pink Rabbit takes it upon himself to climb up the very fir tree that still lacks Estrella’s star. Will this turn out to be the magical night that all those attending the Frost Festival had hoped?

With its gentle humour and theme of kindness, this will enchant Isadora’s followers and likely be responsible for starting a fair few other children on the road to becoming independent readers. Best read with a mug of hot chocolate, perhaps made to the recipe given at the end of the book.

MIrabelle and the Haunted House
Harriet Muncaster

One autumn morning Mirabelle’s Mum urgently needs dragongrass flower petals to make some special eyeshadow and it’s finally agreed that the family should combine going on a picnic with hunting for the dragongrass flowers Mum requires. Off they all fly and having found the perfect picnic spot, Mum and Dad lie back and fall fast asleep. Almost immediately Mirabelle and her brother, Wilbur, fall out and the two part company.

Before long Mirabelle discovers a single dragongrass flower but just as she’s going to pick it, Wilbur reappears and stamps on the plant rendering it useless for potion making, claiming it was an accident. Then Mirabelle’s dragon, Violet, flies off frightened by a sudden thunderstorm and when she follows him, Mirabelle finds herself in a clearing outside a tumbledown house. Shortly after, Wilbur arrives and following another squabble the two enter the house. Further bickering ensues and eventually Mirabelle gets so irate she cries, “I wish you’d just disappear!” And Wilbur does.

Can she discover what’s happened to him and find Violet? Perhaps, with some assistance from a friendly ghost, named Luna.

What about that dragongrass flower: can Luna help with that too?

Young readers, especially Mirabelle’s countless human friends, will delight in this the ninth adventure starring the little half fairy, half witch. They’ll also enjoy trying some of the activities after this story.