Fablehaven

Two children are sent to their grandparents house in Connecticut, where they learn that drinking the milk from a magical cow will allow their “eyes to be opened” and they can suddenly see all the magical creatures surrounding their house. They learn that their grandfather is the curator of a place called Fablehaven, an area of protection for these mythical creatures.
The book is very well written and engaging. It kept my attention during the whole book (I even ended up reading the entire series afterward). However, it is essentially the same plot as another series, the Spiderwick Chronicles. That's not a bad thing, but it is very interesting to see Brandon Mull's approach to these fantastical ideas. Children would enjoy this book because they would relate to the two main characters and could easily imagine themselves in the amazing situations the characters find themselves in. Plus, there's dragons.

3,5/5

Dang. Not as good as I remembered.

The series does get better; I remember that. But the challenge here is that Mull is trying to convey his mental movie of the story, but can't quite land the words to make it flow naturally on the page. Seth, while not the best character at this point, is not the absolute moron most of the non-positive reviews claim. The man is young, and developing character. He is a little ambitiously reckless, but I know enough ten-year-old siblings of my friends to inform those kind reviewers that they need more experience with children. Seth is slightly annoying, but checks out.

What lands now is the sheer... absurdity of the world building. Not that it's bad, simply absurd. Things happen, or are world rules, for reasons that Mull capitalizes on in later entries, leaving their mystifying roots here. If this were standalone, I would not rank it so highly.

I really enjoyed these books. They are better suited for a younger audience then I.
My parents have a copy on CD and I was listening to it with my fiance near by and he was blown away by the bazaar situations the characters find themselves in.

I would compare it to the gateway to foo books.

I hated the brother when I first read this book as a middle schooler, and I probably will still hate him once I begin my reread of this soon but from what I remember he gets better as the series goes on.

Toda la escena en la que ordeñan a la vaca es rara

Ths book is wonderful on pair with Harry Potter in my opinion.

I first read it when I was young and in high-school. I am now 32 and re-read it to my 8 year old son. I was wonderful and as fantastic as I remmebr it. I hope he comes to love it and reads it to hos children.

This book says it is for children aged 9-12 years but I enjoyed it at 40. It was so imaginative and well written. I really don't like to read fantasy books but every now and I find something special I just can't put refuse. It seems impossible to review this book without spilling the beans so I'll do my best.

This book is about and young girl and her brother that are going to have to stay with their grandparents for 17 days while their parents go on a cruise. These are the grandparents they never got to know very well and they always seemed odd. Lately they had never seen their grandparents together; There was only one or the other and many strange excuses. Their grandfather was very reluctant to have them over at all and most of the family had never even been to their home. They were sure they were going to be miserable until their parents came back for them.

Upon arriving they saw this large, elaborate gate to enter the estate and many odd “beware” and “private property” signs. When they finally reached the house it was very nice with a pool and beautiful gardens. They were shown to their room which was filled with old fashioned toys in great condition. They were told they could do anything they wanted in that room and they could play in the pool and surrounding yards but they were to never go into the woods or the barn. Their grandfather told them they had to obey those rules or they would have to stay in their room for the rest of their stay. Before leaving though, their grandfather handed them a small key ring with 3 very small keys with a challenge to see what they fit.

Well, that's as far as I go. You have to read the book to find out what happened. I promise you'll finish this book in a few days or less. It is that good. Then, there are more books to follow.

This was recommended to me because of my love of the Harry Potter series. Fablehaven had a good premise but was definitely geered towards a much younger crowd. It would be a great read for middle to late elementary age kids. The writing was very simple and straightforward with lots of back and forth dialogue. Not for me.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I really liked it. It had a unique setting and the characters were very real, especially the sibling dynamic. Overall this is a fun book with good characters and fantasy elements.

4.5 - the little girl tucked away in middle grade land really enjoyed this book.

This one has been on my radar for a while and we were lucky to find it at the local library (in Sweden). This is the story of a sister (Kendra) and her younger brother (Seth) who are to spend a few weeks at their grandparents remote estate set deep in the woods. These two characters immediately endeared themselves to my kids as I read this book aloud to them. What Kendra and Seth soon discover is that their grandparents are the caretakers of a sanctuary for mythical creatures (faeries, naiads, satyrs, etc.) and it can be dangerous. The story moves along briskly and the kids are the best characters. My own kids often chuckled at their interactions. They were thrilled by the story too. We'll be reading book two in this five-book series next.

A fun and inventive new take on classic fairy tales, the first book in this series is always entertaining. The design and structure of the world keep you wanting more until the last page.

Age range: 10+
Younger readers may find it a little scary. Older readers may find the tone a little juvenile.

DNF - PG 93

Why?

I've never liked ‘all of [insert race here] is evil all the time' sort of world building.

“Much of morality is peculiar to mortality. The best creatures here are merely not evil.”

Seth

“Adults always underestimate kids. They get all protective because they think we're babies. Think about it. Mom used to complain all the time about me playing in the stree. But I always did it. And what happened? Nothing. I paid attention. I stayed out of the way when a car came.”

Kendra