I’m back with two very similar series! Similar enough to compare (and contrast). Even those covers show similar poses.

There are probably as many active fairy chapter book series as there are Rainbow Magic sub-series. I’ve talked about at least one of each on the blog before. I’m starting to think I specialize in fairies, not mean girls.

Series

Fairy Scout Friends currently has 7 books (4 out, 3 scheduled). Ages 5-9. Started in January 2026.

Forever Fairies has 8 books out. Ages 7-10. Started in March 2024.

Both series feature the focus character’s name in the subtitle. Both series even start with F!

Premise

In Fairy Scout Friends, four fairy scouts learn to get along and earn badges from showing teamwork and using their magic.

In Forever Fairies, four new sprout wing fairies help each other pass trials to find which group of Forever Tree fairies they belong with.

For this post, I’m mostly going to focus on the first four books of each series. Each book follows a different character, and the first four showcase the main characters very well. Future Forever Fairies books follow different characters than the first four, also.

Characters

The Fairy Scouts
Rain, Flutterfly, Jewel Rose, and Bloom Feather. Technically Rain’s full name is Rainbow Sunshine, but she prefers Rain. Bloom is even a boy fairy! Each fairy scout has pretty straightforward character traits. You’ll notice this with the Sprout Wings later, too.

Rain is downbeat and likes mud and other non-fairy things.
Flutterfly is the cheeriest. She rivals Daisy in pure unadulterated sunshine.
Jewel Rose likes cooking and organization.
Bloom is great at communicating with bugs. He gets distracted easily.

Rain is the best of the four, obviously. I love that she goes against traditional fairy stereotypes, and everyone accepts her anyway. Flutterfly is a very close second. I also love genuinely cheery characters.

(But there is a mean girl named Nettle. She might have the best mean girl name in chapter books. Where’s her book, Hannah Fay?)

The Sprout Wings

Or “Sprouties” as most call them. Lulu, Nova, Coco, and Zali. They all sprouted from their flowers together on the same day, and even after finding their pods, will always be best friends.

Lulu is the fastest flier, energetic, and positive.
Nova is great at healing magic, and loves to help other creatures.
Coco loves to cook and is great under pressure.
Zali is a fashionista and an amazing singer.

I will say, I’m not a fan of their names. When you compare them to the Fairy Scouts, they’re not as straightforward. They’re just normal names. There are a lot of named fae in and around the Forever Tree: our main characters, the pod leaders, the elders, and the various trolls. When names get thrown around, I got really confused who was who in a few places. There’s nothing to clue me in to who anyone is besides context, which isn’t always there. I guess it helps readers identify more? They’re just like you and me.

I’ll briefly mention the art, too, though I don’t like talking about it outside of Cover Story posts. It’s… fine, but for sure not as eye-catching as Fairy Scout Friends. Those ooze personality, and the books come out at a much faster rate than Forever Fairies. I will say that the Sprouties are looking directly at the reader, which is a different kind of eye-catching. The Fairy Scouts certainly aren’t doing that.

I believe the duo that is “Maddy Mara” does the art for their series as well. Given the other series their working on, I won’t blame them for just getting things out the door. We’ll talk about that more in a bit.

I could gush about the art in Fairy Scout Friends for days. For now, I’ll just mention the details and expressions are insane.

Plot

I’ll start with Forever Fairies here, because I think the story is where this series really sparkles. Each book has all four Sprouties perform the trial for each fairy pod. They all must pass each trial, even if they’re not great at what the trial is testing for. Book 4 even mentions that most fairies fail a few tests before they pass. Four fairies doing the trials at the same time is also not normal. Most fairies don’t sprout at the same time like they did.

I won’t spoil how they do each trial, but what each trial is is very different. A obstacle course. Creating a healing potion. Baking a cake. Putting on a play. Each test takes place over one or two days. One after the other. They stretch these fairies thin. Fay does a really good job of keeping the tension, too. You know they’ll succeed, but how will they succeed?

Fairy Scout Friends has similar “trials”, but they’re much lighter and less involved. Finding a place to build a clubhouse, learning to use magic to find and grow a seed, baking (again), and helping out others.

The tasks are still important to them, which gives them as much gravity as a more involved series like Forever Fairies.

Supply & Demand

Release schedules aren’t something I’ve talked about much on this blog. These series are great at showcasing how involved chapter book releases can be.

Fairy Scout Friends has seven books, and it just started releasing in January 2026. That means that the first four books were likely already done before books 1 and 2 went into print. Books 1 and 2 were both released at the same time. Book 3 in May. Book 4 in August. The next three scheduled releases for 5, 6, and 7 are in September, November, and February. That’s six books a year. At least for now. It takes at least a year from final draft to release, so you can bet Fay and Takac are at least four books ahead of that right now. (That also means the first four books were finished drafting years ago, which is humbling.)

Forever Fairies releases are a little slower, but the first four still came out in the same year. Books 1 and 2 on March 5, 2024. 3 in May. 4 in September. 5, 6 and 7 in April, July, and October 2025. Book 8 was just released in March 2026, after a five month gap. I wonder why…

Oh, that’s right. Mara also writes another active chapter book series. Maybe you’ve heard of Dragon Girls. It’s currently on twenty-one books with no signs of slowing. And it’s getting a TV show. Going back to the books for a sec, let’s see how many were released during the same timeframe as Forever Fairies.

Six. That means from March 2024 to March 2026, Mara had fourteen books released across both series. A tall order.

I have a hunch Mara wrote Forever Fairies on Scholastic’s request. A lot of chapter books are written on request by the publisher. Fairies are a popular topic. Mara is a prolific author. It just makes sense. Right, right, Mara also wrote Dragon Games too, so maybe that one was commissioned.

Something else to remember here, is shelf space. Chapter books are really thin. They don’t have a lot of shelf presence unless there are a lot of books out. This is why most modern chapter book series release books 1 and 2 at the same time. I’ve heard from recent seminars that Barnes and Noble won’t even purchase a new series now unless four books are already out. If you haven’t noticed yet, chapter book releases tend to come in fours. If a series is on book 5, there’s probably three more coming. Look at any series, especially the ones that ended. They usually stop at book 4 or 8. Some multiple of 4. Sometimes 3 or 6. Depends on how invested the publisher wants to get.

Conclusion

As I mentioned, both series have more books out and on the way. Fairy Scout Friends book 8 is a shoe-in, they just haven’t announced it yet.

I personally like Fairy Scout Friends more, but the story in Forever Fairies is really great. Trials are fun. Troll lore is cool. I’m excited to see what kinds of stories their pod leaders, the Alpha Wings, will tell.

I’m probably going to talk about at least one of these series in more detail another time. Maybe next month. We’ll see.