Review Detail

Olivia Nibblesqueak's Messy Mischief (Magic Animal Friends #9)

Kids Fiction 326

Cute hamsters AND cupcakes

June 15, 2016 (Updated: June 19, 2026)

Overall rating

3.0

Plot

3.0

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

3.0

Friends Jess and Lily travel frequently into the magical Friendship Forest, invited there by Goldie the cat. When they go this time, a family of hamsters who run a bakery are working very hard to get delicious treats ready for a cake decorating contest. The animals helping out are all adorable, but soon cakes are thrown at the bakery, ruining a lot of the hard work. It's the evil witch Grizelda's horrible minions, who want to make the entire forest as messy as they have made Witchy Waste. One of them, a bat named Peep, casts a purple sparkle spell on Olivia, and soon she is marauding around with him, wreaking havoc. Jess and Lily need to discover three things about her in order to undo the spell before Olivia turns in to a bat!

Good Points

Even though I haven't read the previous books in this series, Jess and Lily's involvement with the Friendship Forest was nicely recapped, and there was a helpful map at the beginning of the book. The reading level on the book is stated as being appropriate for 3rd graders, but a younger child would find this appealing, perhaps as a read along, or with some assistance on more difficult words.

The story is not nuanced, which makes it easier for beginning readers to un derstand. Grizelda and her minions are all unappealing and unabashedly evil, and the other animals are all cute and work to preserve social harmony. I was definitely put in mind of the Smurfs television series from long ago that the children I babysat wanted to watch!

Readers who enjoy this author's fairy stories, or any of the Puppy Place series books will quickly become addicted to this comfortingly predictable series about magical animals. I can see a lot of hours being spent in recreating the world and stories of Friendship Forest in backyards with friends who are readers!