Otto is our endearingly bewildered young hero whose world suddenly becomes very odd. Going with his father, Albert, to the FireBox Launderette, Albert is called to help with 'failing machinery' and is seen by Otto calming a purple dragon in the back room. When his baby sisters start to fly, his grandmother becomes a unicorn, and street waifs fly along the street at night on magic carpets pursued by the new Normal Police force, life becomes odder and scarier. Otto learns - often riotously - that his city and his family are very special indeed. Here the last remaining magical people - the Karmidee - are living as an underclass of pedlars and tinkers, known as the 'magicos'. But legend tells of a King, birthmarked with a butterfly, who will save the Karmidee from extinction. Particularly from the new Minister for Modernisation, Councillor Elfina Crink. With her Impossible List and Normal Police, she is determined to stamp out the Karmidee spirit. As repression intensifies, the Karmidee and their powers go underground, but their magic bursts out in the most unexpected places as a bid for freedom, with surprising, hilarious and extraordinary results.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7–This fantasy is set in the City of Trees, an isolated oasis built long ago by the Karmidee, magical beings that range from widges (who use cats to amplify the power of their spells) to dragons and shape-shifters. When humans found their way to the metropolis through a mountain pass, they gradually seized control and turned its original inhabitants into second-class citizens. Known as Normals, these rulers now make life difficult for the Karmidee. Young Otto belongs to the most Normal of families–or so he thinks until his little twin sisters begin to fly, his grandmother transforms into a unicorn, and his father (a librarian) turns out to be the King of the Karmidee. Still struggling with his family's past and trying to accept the knowledge that he is a "magico," Otto is quickly placed in grave danger. A nasty and powerful Normal named Elfina wants to turn the Karmidee into freak-show entertainers for Outsiders, and it's up to Otto and his new friends to stop her. The amazing oddities and quirks of this world and its residents are described with delicious nonchalance, so that readers will feel right at home, yet be delighted by each new discovery (playground slides that loop around whole city streets, butterflies as big as dogs). The characters are equally surprising and unpredictable, swarming over the more straightforward plot. It doesn't matter; the writing is as fresh and invigorating as the setting. Fans of fantasy and speculative fiction, especially books like Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember (Random, 2003), Suzanne Collins's Gregor the Overlander (Scholastic, 2003), and Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines (HarperCollins, 2003), will love this one as well. And hooray, it's the first in a series.–Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 4-7. The First Book of the Karmidee takes place in the City of Trees, which has long been isolated from the world by encircling mountains as well as magic. Two peoples live there: the "normal" and the Karmidees, magical folk of all sorts, who experience prejudice and the increasing threat of persecution and exploitation. Otto Hush, who had always thought his family normal, is jolted by several revelations: his father, a mild-mannered librarian, is actually the King of the Karmidees; his prim grandmother is a spell-casting shape-shifter; and his baby sisters can fly. A fast-paced adventure ensues. Fearful at times, yet resolute at heart, Otto makes a sympathetic young hero as he stumbles and romps through a world more dangerous, complex, and intriguing than he had imagined. Haptie adds a bit of social satire with elements such as the Normal Police attempting to round up all "magicos" by searching residences for "Suspicious and Impossible Items of a Non-Respectable Nature." Expect sequels to this inventive first novel by Haptie, a Scottish writer. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
From two boys (ages 6 & 8) and their dad....,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Otto and the Flying Twins: The First Book of the Karmidee (Hardcover)
This book was great! It's about these magic poeple, some people call them Karmidee, some people call them magicos. It's basically about how they get their freedom back from the "normals". There's one type of magicos called "widges", there're some that are really good with animals, there're the "carpetflyers", and there are the few people that can fly without anything, and there was another kind called "dammerung". I liked how there was a lot of magic. (From the 8 year old).It was really cool. The carpetflyers were my favorite thing. It was too good. My second favorite were "the widges". Thanks Charlotte Haptie for writing it. We are anxiously waiting for the next book! (From the 6 year old). We just finished this book and immediately went to the computer to find out if the next one was out yet! (From the dad).
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Haptie delights readers of all ages,
This review is from: Otto and the Flying Twins: The First Book of the Karmidee (Hardcover)
Haptie's debut novel introduces yet another magical place to the world of literature, but the City of Trees never seems to bring to mind images of Hogwarts or Narnia. With this story, an entirely different and exciting world is created; a place where a laundromat is run by a dragon, where children fly on carpets, and where trees play an important role. Haptie's wording is simple and concise, and her details illuminating and clear. Her magical people, the Karmidee, are very fresh- there are no witches and wizards, only widges, dammerung, lamp-eyes, artists, and so on. These people have become outcasts in their own City, overrun by the Normals who lack imagination and bring only destruction. With her story of love and hope, the author also has underlying themes of discrimination and senseless prejudice. I was completely enthralled by this new world and the lovable hero, Otto, who is not entirely good or entirely bad; he is just a young boy hoping to save his family and friends. This is a beautiful story, and has quickly become one of my favorites.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
beautifully useful,
By Mignon (Taiwan) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Otto and the Bird Charmers (Karmidee) (Hardcover)
After I read this book it reminded me how good books can teach people how to be kind to one another. I immediately bought it and it's sequel for my brother to read. It is definitely a book that should be given to children
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