- Graphic Novels
- Ages 7–10
- Comedy
Toby and the Pixies: Best Frenemies
Book 2 of 4 in Toby and the PixiesView the full series
A second helping of pixie chaos, this time built around Toby's school bully Steph and the pixies' terrible attempts to make enemies into friends. Fast, silly and very friendly to comedy-led reluctant readers.
- Best for7–10
- FormatGraphic
- Length208 pp
- Read aloud~1 hr40 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Absurdist
- Irreverent
- Exciting
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Being King of the Pixies is hard enough, but Toby's life gets even worse when school bully Steph discovers his secret. The pixies, naturally, decide the obvious solution is to make Toby and Steph best friends. Their magical attempts are as disastrous as ever: pranks, mix-ups, spells and increasingly ridiculous social situations turn Toby's school life into total chaos. This second Toby and the Pixies volume keeps the same Phoenix comic energy as the opener, with bright full-colour panels, fast jokes and exaggerated expressions on almost every page. The comedy is broad and silly, but the friendship theme gives it a useful underlying shape. Instead of treating a bully simply as a villain, the story turns the enemy-to-friend setup into a joke machine with a softer emotional landing. Best for readers who want maximum mayhem and minimum reading friction.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 7–10
- Read aloud · 7–10
- Independent · 7–10
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Phoenix comic fans
- Bunny vs monkey next
- School comedy
- Magic mischief
- Reluctant readers
Avoid if
- Has not read book one
- Very sensitive to bullying
- Dislikes chaotic humour
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Making friends
- Struggling with reading
- Being bullied
- Anxiety and worry
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A funny fantasy-comic series with a little heart — a reluctant-reader pleaser and classroom-library pick.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific delight is the disastrous friendship spell — Toby's bully Steph discovering his secret, the pixies deciding the answer is to magic the two of them into best friends, pranks and mix-ups and increasingly ridiculous social situations following. The Toby and the Pixies sequel.
- Magic powers
- Trickery and cleverness
- Having a nemesis
- Friendship and belonging
Why parents love it
The second Toby and the Pixies — bright Phoenix-comic energy, broad silly comedy with the enemy-to-friend turning into a joke machine. Softer emotional landing than the bully premise suggests. Reliable for maximum-mayhem-minimum-reading-friction readers.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Conversation starter
In the series
Toby and the Pixies.
4 books · open the series →
About the creators
About the creators.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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