Yesterday my daughter insisted we go to the bookstore and get the third installment in Chris Colfer’s Land of Stories series. These addictive fantasy adventures have her reading rather than asking to watch teen web series about hair styles!
I was thrilled and a little bit shocked when my kid’s requested activity on a day off of school was to go to the bookstore. I assumed we were in for another long perusal, punctuated by me repeating the mantra “one fashion magazine AFTER you choose a book!” but she went straight to a clerk, asked for the book she wanted and was pleased as punch to find there was one copy left. She cheerfully brought it over and started to tell me all about it! Amazingly, I’d never heard of this Land of Stories.
Seems twins, Alex and Conner, are swept into the land of fairytales through their recently passed away father’s magic journal. Their grandmother turns out to be a fairy-grandmother, and the two go on various quests with familiar fairy tale characters.
While fun and fantastic, the content isn’t all whimsical as the twins learn to cope with the loss of their Dad in the first book, and rescue their Mom in the second.
The characters must be engaging, as my daughter clearly and animatedly discusses them. She could not wait to read the third book in the series, opening it as we left the store and double checking her backpack for it this morning.
While Colfer may be better known for his fantastic role on Glee, this series is helping teach my daughter to love reading.
The Wishing Spell is the first book in the series.
Land of Stories by Chris Colfer via Amazon