The Littlest Angel - Lily Gets Her Wings product reviews

When I looked at this book, I thought it might be a bit too young for Miss Seven, but she pounced on it in delight and announced that this time she was going to be reading it to me rather than the other way round. Once we got started, I realised that it was pitched at just the right level for a child her age; she was able to read most of the text fluently, with only very occasional input from me when she got stuck on a word. We read it over 13 nights, one chapter at a time, and in between sessions she took the book to bed with her so she could look at the pictures.

Lily, the heroine of the book, is clumsy and is always getting things wrong. Miss Seven felt quite sorry for her; every so often we had to stop and talk about what it would mean to be like Lily and get into trouble all the time. It does not help that Tisa, Lily's rival, is forever being mean to her. Miss Seven got quite annoyed with her, and said she should get over herself and be Lily's friend.

The story is written around a competition for two little angels to get their trainer wings. For this, they have to compete against each other by completing certain challenges. Poor Lily does not do at all well, while Tisa seems to manage everything perfectly. Angel Mina and Mother Angel try to steer Lily in the right direction, but she continues to get into trouble in her attempts to win each round. Miss Seven got angry when she realised Tisa was actually sabotaging her efforts, and said someone should tell on her!

When Lily finally - and unexpectedly - wins a round, she is overjoyed if somewhat puzzled. She cannot quite work out how she came to win it! However, she still does not expect to be the overall winner as Tisa won the first two rounds, so she is resigned to seeing Tisa finish ahead of her. To her surprise, Tisa apologises and admits to Lily that she has been mean, actively trying to engineer things so she will beat her. Lily realises that Tisa has been behaving badly because she is so unhappy, and the two girls finally become friends. Miss Seven stopped reading at this point and uttered a loud, enthusiastic YES!

As for the ending - Miss Seven was happy with that too. She got the outcome she had hoped for, and loved the idea of them all finishing up with a popcorn party. Over the days that we had been reading the book, Tisa and Lily had become real people to her - almost like old friends - so I can see her reading it again and again. It is already on her bedside table for tonight's story.

Lily is the littlest angel at Amelia's Angel Academy and is ready to sit the test to earn her learner wings and stay at the academy. Of course things aren't going to be so easy with her practice wings having disappeared!

This is a very sweet book for the younger reader. We read this a chapter a night to Miss 4.75 and even she enjoyed it a lot. In a way Lily reminded me a little of an Anne of Green Gable type character, a loveable girl with a habit of getting into scrapes but a heart of gold. Really that is what this story is, the reader follows the little Lily though a series of mishaps and mistakes until things work out.

I also really love that there are lessons to be learned from the story for the young readers: be true to yourself, be honest and that is what will take you far. I wouldn't hesitate in getting more of these in the series for Miss 4.75.