Product Description

As an animal-talent fairy, there’s nothing Beck likes better than speaking Bird, or Chipmunk. So when a conflict breaks out between the hummingbirds and the chipmunks, she steps forward to act as a mediator, but nothing she says seems to help. Will Beck be able to bring peace to the animals?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #290881 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-10
• Released on: 2006-01-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780736423731
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-3–These four paperbacks feature the denizens of Pixie Hollow, in Never Land. Beck, an animal-talent fairy, helps to end a war between the hummingbirds and the chipmunks. Lily, a garden-talent fairy, plants a mysterious seed that grows into a noxious but ultimately amazing plant. Tink, otherwise known as Tinker Bell, is a pots-and-pans fairy whose talent disappears when she loses her magic hammer. Vidia is a fast-flying-talent fairy with a mean streak, whose heart warms just a little when other fairies help her clear her name when she is falsely accused of stealing the Fairy Queens crown. The full-color illustrations are typical Disney animation style. These attractive, fluffy titles will almost certainly fly off the shelves where such paperback series as Tracey Wests Pixie Tricks (Scholastic) are popular.–Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 1-3. Following Gail Carson Levine's leadoff Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg (2005) comes Disney Fairies, a series of chapter books, written by various authors, that take place in Never Land's fairy kingdom, Pixie Hollow. In this offering, Beck, an animal-talent fairy, must stop a war between chipmunks and hummingbirds that threatens to divide the entire forest. Despite contrived plotting and a predictable solution just shy of sentimental, the warring animals' childlike feud and the gentle lesson at the heart of the story will resonate with a young audience. The few sample full-color illustrations included in the galley were ornate and stylized, with a slick, airbrushed look and fairies with wide eyes and voluptuous lips; the full set of final illustrations was not available. Lily's Pesky Plant, by Kirsten Larsen; The Trouble with Tink, by Kim Thorpe; and Vidia and the Fairy Crown, by Driscoll, are being published simultaneously. Krista Hutley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
A squirrel perched on a log paused while chewing on some seeds. He watched as two tiny Never fairies zipped past him, side by side.

“Oh, Beck,” one of the fairies said to the other as they flew. “Thank you so much for coming with me.” She looked terribly worried. “We just don’t know what to do. A baby raccoon turned up in the gardens this morning, and he ate all the strawberries out of Thistle’s strawberry patch. And then he started digging up Rosetta’s mint! We chased him off, but he didn’t go far. Now he’s sitting on a tree stump by Havendish Stream. He won’t budge. And none of the other animal-talent fairies can understand a word he’s saying!”

Beck smiled. “Don’t worry, Latia,” she said. They were nearing Havendish Stream. “We’ll figure it out.”

Latia breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, if any fairy in Never Land can figure it out, it’s you, Beck!”

Every fairy in Never Land agreed: Beck was one of the finest animal-talent fairies in Pixie Hollow. She loved being around animals, from the tiniest insects to the largest mammals. Oh, sure, snakes could be a little grumpy. Skunks were hard to read. And hawks, of course, were just plain dangerous. But all in all, she loved feeling a part of the animal world. Sometimes Beck secretly wished that she were an animal!

Like all the animal-talent fairies, Beck had a gift for talking to animals. Birdcalls, mouse squeaks, squirrel and chipmunk chatter–they were just noises to the other fairies. But to animal-talent fairies, those different noises held meaning. To them, animal sounds were as clear and easy to understand as words and sentences.

Beck was especially good at talking to baby animals, perhaps because she was so playful and lighthearted. She loved playing hide-and-seek with the young squirrels and having somersault contests with the baby hedgehogs. Even when an animal was too young to speak, Beck could understand it. Queen Clarion said Beck had empathy and could sense animals’ emotions. When those emotions were strong enough, Beck felt them, too.

So when a baby raccoon parked himself on a stump and refused to move, everyone thought of Beck right away. The animal fairies sent Latia to fetch Beck because she was a forest-talent fairy and knew the quickest ways to get through Pixie Hollow.

An easy five-minute flight later, the two fairies came to Havendish Stream. A dozen animal-talent fairies were hovering around a tiny raccoon, who sat on a tree stump clutching a stalk of Rosetta’s mint.

“Beck’s here!” Latia called, and all the fairies turned.

“Oh, thank goodness!” cried Fawn, one of Beck’s best friends. She drew Beck closer to the tree stump. “Beck, you’ve just got to help. This poor little fella won’t budge. We don’t even know where he came from.” With a push from Fawn, Beck found herself right in front of the baby raccoon. He raised his head and whimpered.

“Hello there,” Beck said in Raccoon. “I’m Beck. What’s your name?”

The little raccoon let out another whimper. Then he buried his face in his paws and rubbed his nose in the stalk of mint he had picked from Rosetta’s garden.

“Oh, don’t cry!” Beck said. She flew up and stroked the top of the raccoon’s furry head. The raccoon rocked back and forth–and Beck’s lip started trembling. The baby raccoon was so sad and so scared that Beck was starting to feel sad, too. She straightened her back, cleared her throat, and forced herself to cheer up. If she didn’t watch out, soon she’d be crying as hard as the little raccoon, and then where would the fairies be?

“Hey, now,” said Beck, smiling. “Don’t cry, my friend. Why would you cry when you could be playing a game with me?”

Raising his head, the little raccoon looked at Beck for the first time. She smiled encouragingly and patted his nose. “That’s right,” she said. “I know the perfect game for us to play. It’s called Find the Fairy!”

Customer Reviews

Fairies! back on track with this book.
I gave Fairy Dust 5 stars. SO far the book I have read in this series deserve at least 6 then. I LOVED the magic started in Fairy dust, but they have stepped it up and made a wonderful world of fairies most people will love. I found this book to have more personality and character then Fairy dust. They elaborate more on the characters, the talents and everything. The fairy world just got more magical!!

Not a Beck Story Yet
I like animal stories. When I found out Beck was an "Animal Talent" fairy I wanted to skip straight to this book. I controlled myself instead and read the first 3 in the series. They were GREAT!
Then I read "Beck and the Great Berry Battle". I kept having to check the title to make sure I was reading the right book. This book should have been called "Beck is Around When Stuff Happens."
Beck is the weakest character so far. The artwork for this book is excellent, but it is wasted on a ho-hum story where everyone gets to be a hero or solve the puzzle or do cool stuff except Beck. Oh and by the way, "Animal Talent" is a secret Disney code for "Good With Children".
Go ahead and read the story, don't let me stop you. But I'm still hoping someone will write a story about Beck who actually WANTED to write a story about Beck.

Beck and the Great Berry Battle review by StoryMaker
Never Land is a magical island very far away from this planet. You probably have heard of it before. You probably have seen movies about it or read books about it or both. As you should know, in Never Land you never grow old. And you probably have heard something about fairies living there, or something of the sort. Well, now you can learn more about the mystical Never Fairies. Learn their talents, abilities and personalities in the Disney Fairies chapter book series!

So far this is the first and only Disney Fairies chapter book I've read. However, I plan on reading as many as I can! Usually books don't hold my attention span very long and after the first few chapters, I stop and forget it. However, this was very captivating! I read it in a single sitting! Lots of things happen in the plot. Speaking of plot, I think I'll summarize it.

Beck is an animal-talent fairy. She understands the twitters, chatters, squeaks, and wimpers of animals and recognizes them as a language. She is one of the best animal-talent fairies there is, in fact. One of her friends is a hummingbird named Twitter. Twitter has a frantic personality and often calls for Beck, saying it's an "emergency". Almost always it turns out to be nothing alarming. However, not this time. A nest disappears - and the birds suspect the chipmunks nabbed it. Soon, every time a chipmunk walks by a blackberry bush, hummingbirds are flinging juicy berries everywhere and splatting everyone (not just chipmunks!) with dark purple juice. Finally the chipmunks decide to fight back. A huge war broke out! Can Beck help them to be at peace once again?

Pretty exciting, huh? Well that's not even the half of it. Lots of other things happen - you'll just have to read it yourself! The illustrations are also quite splendid. The animal pictures are touching and the expressions are great! This book is really good and even if it's not selling for cheap, it's worth the price! Signed, StoryMaker. "Gotta trust the kid's review!"