Living in the Enchanted Forest, the eponymous Maggie is always seeing magical creatures of various kinds. Unfortunately, her new stepmother Zelia and her step-brother Peter cannot also see them, and believe that Maggie is lying about them. When Maggie injures a tiny winged horse, she therefore doesn't turn to her family for help, instead setting off to find Bob the Stableman, a caretaker of fantastic animals once mentioned by her grandmother...

Having read and enjoyed a few of E.D. Baker's middle-grade fantasy novels a few years back, I was curious to see what she would do with this simple, beginning chapter-book series about a girl who rescues magical creatures. This seems to be a popular idea right now, to judge from Paula Harrison's The Secret Rescuers series, written for a similar age group, and Adams Gidwitz's Unicorn Rescue Society books, which are aimed at slightly older readers. However that may be, I picked up Maggie and the Flying Horse with some anticipation, given my familiarity with the author. Unfortunately, I found it rather pedestrian, and didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I had hoped to. I don't read as many beginning chapter-books as I feel that I should, for work - something I hope to remedy, over the coming months - so at first I wondered whether the story simply wasn't complex enough to engage me. As a prolific picture-book reader however, one who often enjoys books with a very spare text, I suspect that this is simply not the case. I think the real problem here is twofold: first, Baker relies too heavily on stock characters like the wicked stepmother and the kindly stable hand, leading to a story where the cast all feel like types, rather than people, and are curiously unsympathetic. Second, Maggie encounters so many fantastic creatures over the course of the story, many of them only briefly described, that these meetings simply don't feel magical. There's no sense of enchantment here, no sense that something wondrous is occurring.

Despite this lukewarm reaction on my part, I do intend to continue with the Magic Animal Rescue series, as I have all four volumes checked out right now, and because (as mentioned) I want to increase my familiarity with books intended for this audience. Perhaps they improve, as one proceeds. ( )

I've been going through a whole slew of beginning chapter books and was interested to take a look at this new series from E. D. Baker, especially since her Frog Princess series has recently enjoyed a revival at my library after we read it in book club.

Maggie lives in the Enchanted Forest and loves the magical creatures she sees there. But her woodcutter father is working far away and she's stuck with her mean stepmother, Zelia, and rotten stepbrother, Peter, neither of whom believe she can see the magical creatures. When she accidentally injures a tiny flying horse, Maggie is determined to take it to Bob the Stableman, who she's heard takes care of magical creatures.

After a long and dangerous journey, Maggie finally arrives and her life immediately takes a turn for the better. For the first time she has someone on her side, someone who can also see magical creatures. Bob not only promises to take care of the little horse, he's impressed by Maggie's resourcefulness and how she risked the dangers of the forest. Now Maggie has plenty of excitement and magic to look forward to in the future as she observes and helps magical creatures with Bob.

This is definitely a beginning chapter book, with a large font, short, choppy sentences, and simple black and white digital illustrations. I can't really say why it didn't appeal to me. It has Baker's trademark blend of contemporary and fairy tale life, and the magical creatures were interesting, but it just didn't have that spark. Maggie is rather a dull character when all is said and done and the "mean stepmother" trope is so worn out.

Verdict: An acceptable addition, especially if you have E. D. Baker fans, but I think I'll go with Paula Harrison's new series instead, which had more memorable characters.

ISBN: 9781681193120; Published 2017 by Bloomsbury; Borrowed from another library in my consortium