Crystal the Snow Fairy - Fantasy Adventure

Crystal The Snow Fairy (Rainbow Magic: The Weather Fairies, No. 1)

By Daisy Meadows

Illustrated Georgie Ripper

Summary

 Crystal the Snow Fairy is the first in The Weather Fairies series.  The king and queen of Fairyland need Rachel and Kristy's help.  Jack Frost and his goblins have stolen Doodle's (the weather vain rooster) feather's and scattered them all over the human world.  Rachel and Kristy help Crystal the Snow Fairy get her winter feather back so the weather can go back to normal.

Annie’s Thoughts:

 I picked this book because it was the first chapter book my granddaughter, Rachel read.  After giving me a synopsis of the book, she happily loaned it to me.  I think this is a cute, beginner chapter book.  The language was simple yet easy for emerging readers to understand.  I personally liked this better than the Junie B Jones book Rachel also loaned me.  I liked that this book was grammatically correct and the theme was positive (working together and helping others). The illustrations are cute and capture the magic of this book well.

Classroom Activates:

Fairy Tale Poster - Have students create their own character then below the picture, list character traits. 

Make your own weather vane -

What You Need:

• Old business card
• 1 straw
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Clear tape
• Pencil
• Stickpin
• 1 liter plastic bottle
• Sand
• Compass
• Black permanent marker

What You Do:

1. Start by researching with your child what a weather vane is and what purpose it serves by visiting your local library or looking online. Many people have decorative weather vanes on their roofs.
2. Help your child gather the materials needed to create his own weather vane. Offer assistance cutting the liter bottle in half if necessary.
3. Now he can cut a triangle out of the business card to create the front and back ends of the weather vane. He can also trim the straw so it is 6-inches long. If the straw has a flexible end, make sure it’s the end that is cut.
4. Invite your child to carefully cut slits into both ends of the straw, about ½ inch deep horizontally, and slid the cut card onto each end. He can secure each of the ends with a small piece of clear tape.
5. Offer your child the pencil and stick pin and encourage him to use the ruler to find the middle of the straw. Now he can position the pencil under the straw and secure the two together with the stickpin creating to top of his weather vane!
6. To create the weather vane base, invite your child to fill the cut bottom of the liter plastic bottle with some sand, and firmly stick the pencil weather vane into the center of the sand.
7. Now your child can place his weather vane in a windy spot and observe how it moves with the wind. Invite your child to guess which direction the wind’s blowing, and then use a compass to check his guesses. He can even use a permanent marker to write the directions on the side of the plastic bottle! (By Sarah Lipoff)

Response Questions:

Kristy and Rachel work together to help Crystal get her winter feather back.  Have you ever had to worked together with someone to get something accomplished or find something?

What is your favorite season? Why?

References:
How to make your weather vane. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/activity/article/forecast-weather-weathervane/

Meadows, D. (2006). Crystal the Snow Fairy: Weather Fairies #1.