Customer Reviews

Fairy Realm #1: The Charm Bracelet

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We borrowed this book yesterday, and started reading it to our 6 year old daughter at about 5:30pm. She was so engrossed, she wouldn't let us stop, so dinner was late. She loved working out the mystery of the missing bracelet, the grey kitten, the brave cat Flynn, and exactly what was happening in the Fairy Realm. We stopped every chapter or two to examine the clues, and figure out why something was happening.

Unlike so many children's books, where the protagonist is either a passive participant or an adult in child's clothing, Jessie is a real girl with real feelings and a real child's perspective. She worries about her grandmother, acts as a child would act, and perceives things as a child would perceive them. Not that my daughter noticed this, but I watched her experience the story just the way Jessie did. This level of engagement is rare, and reminds me of how I felt when first reading "The Lord of the Rings" or "Ender's Game".

All in all, a magnificent introduction to fantasy literature for kids.

I read this seperately to my 5 and 7-year old girls and they both loved it. The story is simple enough for young kids to follow, with descriptive passages that are enough to create a realistic feeling to the story, but not so long to tax kids' attention spans.

The imaginative fairy-tale type elements and situations of the story are perfect for firing young kids' imaginations, but the author avoids violence, and overly suspensefull/stressful situations. It should be noted that in this first "Fairy Realm" book, unlike the others, there is actually a "bad guy" (or girl, rather). The other books involve overcoming hardships, troubles, difficult situations rather than an opposing person.

Overall, a wonderful, easy-to-read story that kids from preschool age to young-elementary school age will love (proably girls more so than boys). If I had to guess I'd say it's written at a 3rd or 4th grade reading level.

Young Jessie is absolutely ecstatic when her Mother takes her to the beautiful Blue Moon to visit her beloved Grandmother. However, while there, Jessie discovers a wonderful secret, and enters a Realm located in the Secret Garden. There, Jessie finds a beautiful land filled with magical creatures of all shapes and sizes. Fairies, miniature horses, elves, and other magical beings live among the Realm. And while the creatures are able to enjoy nature and run free, there is a noble Queen who lives in a gorgeous golden castle, and rules over them all. Now Jessie has found out that the Realm is in grave danger, and it is up to her, and her sick Grandmother to save it from an evil enemy before it's destroyed forever as we know it.

In this first installment in the FAIRY REALM series, readers are able to enter an exciting world where magical beings run free, and where humans are scarce. Jessie is a wonderful character, who is sweet, while at the same time extremely adventurous, and the descriptions throughout the book are vivid, and enchanting, and will capture the reader from page one. Filled with various black and white drawings throughout, this book is sure to become a treasure to any family. Especially those who truly believe.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

My daughter and I read this book together. She's in third grade and read most of it herself. This book is such a fun introduction to fantasy. It was very predictable but that made it more fun for my daughter. She was always so excited if she guessed right. This book is such a delight it made my daughter want to read. Even though it is very much a children's book I enjoyed reading it too.

Anyone who loves to imagine will get pulled into this book. The first book in the Fairy Realm series, The Charm Bracelet by Emily Rodda, is set in both Blue Moon And Fairy Realm. The problem begins when Granny loses her charm bracelet.

In the beginning Granny loses her charm bracelet that helps her remember to go back to Fairy Realm, where she is a queen and renew the magic of the hedge that keeps all goblins and ogers out. Next, Jessie Granny`s grandaughter gets pulled into fairy Realm and tries to figure out who stole Granny`s bracelet. To find out who stole Granny`s bracelet and if the magic of the hedge gets renewed in time, grab a copy of The Charm Bracelet now.

The message the author wants me to learn is to always be brave, care for each other and always try to reach out and help. This book reminds me of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Girls ages 8-10 in 3rd and 4th grade will love this book. If you enjoy the Charm Bracelet try the rest of the Fairy Realm series and more by Emily Rodda.

N.M. in Annapolis

*My rating is 4.5 stars.*

The Charm Bracelet is the first of prolific Australian author Emily Rodda's delightful Fairy Realm series and serves as a wonderful introduction to traditional fantasy for young children.

In The Charm Bracelet, we meet Jessie who, along with her mother, is spending some time with her grandmother while the elderly woman recovers from a fall. Jessie loves her grandmother and her grandmother's home, Blue Moon and, as the story starts, is dismayed that her mother is suggesting that it may no longer be safe for her grandmother to live alone. (Both Jessie's father and her grandfather, who was a well-known fantasy artist, have passed away.) Though she doesn't want her grandmother to have to leave her beloved home, Jessie is very concerned about her and about the fact that she seems to have lost her "spark". As it turns out, Jessie has cause to be concerned. The charm bracelet her grandmother always wears has gone missing and without it, her grandmother's ability to remember something very important that she must do has abandoned her.

Before long Jessie learns that her grandmother is in fact, the true queen of the Realm, a magical world that can be entered through a secret gateway in Blue Moon's garden. With the aid of some creatures she meets after traveling to the Realm by accident, Jessie races to discover how to help her grandmother regain her memory in time to save the Realm by renewing its magic.

Jessie is a likeable character - caring and kind, adventurous, brave and very normal. Kids will find her "approachable", will look up to her and will enjoy cheering her on. They'll also be delighted by the magical creatures and objects peppering The Charm Bracelet. I've been reading this series to my four year old granddaughter who is very into fairies right now. (She enjoys this series far more than the Disney Pixie Hollow fairy stories or J.H. Sweet's Fairy Chronicles, two other series we tried.) She loves Jessie, talks about the stories long after we've finished them and has even named some of her stuffed animals after characters in the books.

The Fairy Realm consists of ten books. Over the course of the series, Jessie meets many different kinds of fairies and magical creatures (the titles often indicate what kind), finding some friendly and others less so. In most of the stories, Jessie faces a problem or a predicament to be solved rather than an evil person or creature plotting something diabolical. Danger exists, but I don't find it too intense for my granddaughter. (Of course parents should always make that determination for themselves.)

Each of the books is 100 pages long with 10 chapters of 10 pages each, leading me to believe that Rodda is a far more organized person than I. A lovely black and white illustration by Raoul Vitale prefaces each chapter and will help children envision scenes and characters. The books build on each other to some extent but not to the degree that a child will have difficulty remembering important plot points from previous entries in the series. Nor will reading the stories out of order cause much disruption to the series' overarching plot which is a bit thin.

The Fairy Realm series in order:
The Charm Bracelet
The Flower Fairies
The Third Wish
The Last Fairy-Apple Tree
The Magic Key
The Unicorn
The Star Cloak
The Water Sprites
The Peskie Spell
The Rainbow Wand

While the Fairy Realm books may lack complexity and depth of character, they're entertaining, fun and make great read-aloud stories. My granddaughter is having a wonderful time swimming with mermaids, meeting unicorns and partying with Pixies. Her enjoyment adds to my own. I also appreciate the fact that this series isn't tied to seemingly endless merchandising - it makes for a nice change! :-)

Happily recommended.

**Though I normally do not like to label books "for girls" or "for boys", my guess is that this series will hold far greater appeal for girls. If, after looking one of the volumes over, you come to the same conclusion - and you're shopping for a boy - you might consider checking out another of Rodda's series, Rowan of Rin. Rowan's adventures may hold more appeal for the little man in your life than do Jessie's.

If you like Rodda's style, she is also the author of the Deltora Quest and its related series Deltora Shadowlands and Dragons of Deltora. Her current series is about an alternate world called Rondo. All are for slightly older kids - perhaps 8-11?**

I bought this for my then 7 year old daughter and she absolutely loved it. It's a great book to get young girls interested in reading on their own and started on chapter books.

My 7 year old daughter devoured this series in a week. It was exciting to discover it, after being at lose ends when she finished the Pixie Tricks series (Tracey West, also highly reccommended). She's been asking me every day when number 4 comes out!

I understand that there's more than just magic and adventure, The Charm Bracelet also has lots of new friends, foes & courage.
Jessie's grandmother, Jessica, owned a charm bracelet with it's own magic to keep all of her memories alive within...and a pet cat called Flynn, who loved protecting his mistress and the house in Blue Moon. This book mostly talks about rescuing a fairy world and the charm bracelet.

I would have to say that this series is a little girls dream come true. Most of the fantasy books that make their way into my home are geared towards the dungeons and dragons realm that boys seem to gravitate towards. This series has the fantasy without the violence, and fits right in with how my daughter views the world at her age. Lots of fairy stuff. And of course, discovery of the Fairy Realm which begins the series.