Fairy Realm: The Charm Bracelet

Title: Fairy Realm: The Charm Bracelet
Author: Emily Rodda

First in a series of ten books, this sweet, easy-to-read story is sure to charm most girls age 7 to 11. The story begins with the main character Jessie at her Granny’s house, “Blue Moon” with her mother. Granny is almost 70 and has a broken wrist cat and Jessie’s mom, Rosemary, is convinced that she should come live with them in the city. On top of that Granny has lost her charm bracelet and after being overly concerned the first day, seems to have completely forgotten about it.
After searching for two days for the bracelet Jessie wakes in the middle of the night hearing her name called from the garden and soon finds herself in a strange land full of elves, a talking horse, mermaids, and the like that is magically guarded by a dying hedge that protects them from the trolls, goblins, dragons, etc. that live on the other side. Once in a blue moon (every 50 years) the hedge has to be renewed by the true “Queen” saying a spell only she knows. If the hedge isn’t renewed the nasty creatures will overcome and enslave the good ones.
The true Queen is really Jessie’s Granny who decided to live in our world when she fell in love with a human. Her kind sister, Helena, has taken her place as ruler in that time. When she left she took her charm bracelet to keep her memories of the Realm from fading and she promised to return when it was time to renew the magical hedge and pass on the spell to Helena’s daughter. However Jessie discovers that Jessica and Helena’s evil cousin, Valda, who was banished for trying to usurp the throne has stolen the bracelet and is using her evil magic to disguise herself as Jessica, she has also locked all the “Doors” that connect our world with theirs so Jessie can’t return home to bring her Granny back.
When Jessie and her new friends discover that Jessie’s cloak from her Granny is truly a cloak of invisibility they use it to trick Valda into opening one of the Doors. However, when Granny returns to FairyRealm she can’t quite remember the spell. With no time to spare she begins to remember the words, “Blue moon floating, mermaids singing, elves and pixies, tiny horses, dwarves and fairies…” unable to remember the rest Jessie comes to the rescue as the “spell” is the song that her Granny sang to her over and over growing up. “Wait together in the silence, wait for the magic rain. Come down, come down, come down and gather. I, the Queen, command it now!”
After banishing Valda to the Outlands again, anointing Helena’s daughter, Christie, as the next Queen, Granny gives Jessie permission to travel back and forth between our world and FairyRealm. Then the pair return home peacefully.

Conclusion:
The story is sweet and wholesome, upholding values such as loyalty to family and friends, sacrificing for a greater good and caring for others. The usage of magic is clearly defined between good and evil (think “Sleeping Beauty”) and there is no confusion of bad and good. This book has a ton of positive elements combine to make a short and charming happily-ever-after for girls. An additional benefit I found in reading this book was that the illustrations are some of the most beautiful pencil drawings I have ever seen.

Buy the first three in this series at Amazon.com for $9.99.
(The first book alone is out print.)