Ahh, to live on Sheepskerry Island with the Fairy Bell Sisters, Clara, Rosy, Golden, Sylva and baby Squeak. To spend your days in fairy lessons (magic, flying at night and troll tracks, to name a few) and having magical adventures. And nights safe behind birch twig doors, lulled to sleep by the scent of sea air dreaming of fairy balls and blueberry cakes; sea glass and diamond wings.

Thanks to children's author Margaret McNamara, there are many, many girls, parents and teachers who are fast becoming familiar with the Bell sisters, Sheepskerry Island and all of the magical happenings there.

The Fairy Bell Sisters, we learn in McNamara's new book series, are the siblings of Tinker Bell, long of Neverland. Young fairies all live together on the Island, which is why Tinker no longer lives on Sheepskerry Island - the eldest, she is all grown up.

McNamara thought about writing about fairies many years ago. And then in 2011, Peter Pan books became part of the public domain in the United States and Canada. McNamara thought writing a book from Tinker Bell's point of view would be wonderful. She discussed how it could be done with publishers she knew, but, Tinker Bell had such a large, complex personality, she changed her mind.

McNamara had read “The White Bird,” by J.M. Barrie, in which Peter Pan appears as well as a whole world of fairies.

“So I thought Tinker Bell must have come from a family of fairies, so why not write about the sisters she left behind,” McNamara said. “Although people may think Tinker Bell's sisters live in Kensington Gardens, where “The White Bird” takes place, they don't. They live on an island that could be off the coast of Maine.”

When proposing the project to publishers McNamara referred to the fairies as “‘Little Women’ with wings.”

McNamara found inspiration in that classic novel about sisters, through experiences with her own sisters (and one brother), and her daughter and stepdaughter's childhoods. She was also inspired by the novels written by Susan Coolidge in 1872 about the adventures of Katy Carr and her siblings, called “What Katy Did.”

“It's where I got the idea for the story line for Fairy Bell sister Rosy's book,” McNamara said. “I love them (the Fairy Bell Sisters), where they live and their sister relationships. And, I like updating fairy lore, giving it a modern twist.”

For example, do you know how fairies are born? The first time a human child laughs. In the case of the six fairy Bell sisters, we're talking about a child who, as McNamara says, “had a very infectious laugh.”

Through McNamara's books we learn fairies go through developmental stages just as human children do. The Fairy Bell Sisters are just coming into their magic; and these books are written for children ages 7 to 11, but their world will be fascinating to fairy fans of all ages.

By way of introduction to each of the Fairy Bell Sisters, each one will be featured in a book demonstrating her special personality traits. The first Fairy Bell Sisters book, “Sylva and the Fairy Ball,” and the second, “Rosy and the Secret Friend,” were published together earlier this year. The third book, “Golden at the Fancy-Dress Party,” will be released on September 3.

Julia Denos' illustrations are a delight. The front covers are colorful, whimsical and magical, sure to catch the fancy of every young (and not so young) girl's eyes. Each book includes a map of Sheepskerry Island and numerous pen and ink and charcoal sketches.

Each book also contains a fairy song, fairy secrets such as a glossary of Squeak's vocabulary to a fairy activity like baking Sylva's favorite blueberry cake (but yours doesn't have to be eight layers high), sewing or how to build a fairy house.

Fairy houses are based on how McNamara builds them. In fact, she and Denos built a fairy house last year at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

McNamara is a literary agent and resides in New York City. She does much of her writing in the Hungarian Pastry Shop there.

She says sharing the fairies' adventures on Sheepskerry Island brings her back to the Boothbay region and that magical time in all our lives … childhood.