Tales from Never Land : Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg and Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand by Gail Carson Levine

Providing the backstory for Barrie's Peter Pan, in Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, Newbery Award winner Gail Carson Levine tells an intriguing tale of how Never Land's fairies are born and how the magical island provides eternal youth to its residents, including Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.

Born of a baby's first laugh, Never fairy Prilla suddenly appears at Fairy Haven, complete except for her apparent lack of a special talent. Unlike Tinker Bell, who repairs pots and pans, or Rani, who can work magic with water, Prilla's lack of a useful ability leaves her feeling lonely and unwanted among the hard-working fairy society of Never Land. But Mother Dove, whose molted feathers provide the magical flying dust for the fairies and whose egg protects the perpetual youth to all Never Land residents, loves little Prilla and assures her she has an important but unrecognized talent.

When a wild hurricane injures Mother Dove and breaks her egg, Prilla is one of the three chosen to compel the dragon Kyto to provide the flame to restore the egg. Together with Rani and Vidia, the swiftest flying fairy, Prilla helps secure a mermaid's comb, Captain Hook's cigar holder, and a golden hawk's feather with which to bribe the dragon. When the dragon's treachery threatens the repair of the egg, it is Prilla's ability to summon the power of belief of the mainland children, the Clumsies, which saves the magic of Never Land.

Although Fairy Haven is saved by the successful restoration of the egg, in the just published sequel, Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand, things start to fall apart when Soop, the vengeful mermaid who gave up her comb to save the egg, demands payment in the form of a fairy wand from the Great Wanding Fairies.

When Fairy Queen Ree travels with Tink and Terence to secure a wand, Tinker Bell unfortunately picks a selfish and mischievous wand which infects all who touch it with wand madness and grants wishes which wreak havoc on Fairy Haven. Rani is entrapped in the body of a bat, Tinker Bell forgets Peter and falls in love with dust fairy Terence, the magical golden hawk shrinks, and mermaid Soop sends a flood which threatens to drown the fairies of Fairy Haven. Worst of all, the evil wand forces Mother Dove's magical egg to begin to hatch, an unthinkable event which will end the enchantment which protects Never Land.

Armed with calming thoughts and special fairy dust, Tink manages to calm the wand so that its heart grows big enough to melt its spite. At last all selfish wishes are reversed, and Prilla wisely returns "the finest, biggest-hearted wand the Great Wandies would ever own."

Gail Carson Levine tells a light, fast-moving story which nonetheless shows the destructive power of greed. As in the first book, David Christiana's lavish full-page and pull-out illustrations ably support Levine's characterizations.