Four Children and IT by Jacqueline Wilson

Jacqueline Wilson fan's will love this book about a step family, who with the help of a magical sand fairy, actually find that life with each other is not that bad after all.

A modern twist on E. Nesbit's story Five Children and IT, containing just enough clever links in it to enhance the story but meaning that you absolutely don't need to have read the original to fully enjoy the story.

This fairy is nothing like any other fairy you will come across and I found that I actually enjoyed his personality. I also loved that it sneakily contains a bit of education in it - teaching kids about how things were in the past when Rosalind ends up in Edwardian times in one chapter of the story. As each of the characters in the story unfold, you find yourself actually liking each and every one of them. It is definitely a book that brings encouragement and hope to kids and helps them realise that they can have dreams and whilst the sand fairy helped the children in the story get a taste of their dreams, they will also hopefully one day work hard to make their dreams come true.

A final bonus is the feature at the back of the book containing a Four Children and IT quiz to see how much of the story you can remember, a page on "Rosalind's Writing Tips" and a recipe for "Robbie's chocolate crispy cakes". What better way to engage readers than to have this section to give it an interactive edge (and by that I mean good old fashioned interacting not anything technological!).

A thoroughly enjoyable read and both me and Josh would highly recommend 'IT'.