More like The Missing Locket
anchored on:fantasyour worldmiddle gradeportal fantasytime travelmagical artifacts+4 more
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- Tales of Magic
series7 books1954
completed
similar byfantasyfriendshipour world+6 more
Tales of Magic collects Edward Eager's seven loosely connected children's novels about ordinary kids who stumble into magic in everyday American settings, starting with Half Magic, in which four siblings find a coin that grants exactly half of any wish. Each book follows a different, sometimes overlapping set of children and a different magical object or rule, from Knight's Castle to the deliberately ambiguous Magic or Not? and its sequel The Well-Wishers. Eager wrote them as a direct homage to E. Nesbit, sometimes having his own child characters read her books.
- The Indian in the Cupboard
series5 books1980
completed
similar byadventurousfantasyportal fantasyour worldmiddle grade+4 more
Lynne Reid Banks' Indian in the Cupboard series begins with the 1980 children's novel in which a boy discovers that an old cupboard can bring his plastic toy figures to life. The low-fantasy series, which inspired a 1995 film adaptation, continues across Return of the Indian, The Secret of the Indian, The Mystery of the Cupboard, and The Key to the Indian.
- Time Cat: The Remarkable Journeys of Jason and Gareth
Lloyd Alexanderstandalone novel1963
similar byadventurouslightheartedfantasyour worldmiddle gradetime travel+1 more
Jason and his magic cat Gareth travel through time to visit countries all over the world during different periods of history.
- Lewis Barnavelt
series12 books1973
similar byfantasymiddle gradenorth america+4 more
Lewis Barnavelt is a lonely orphan who moves in with his uncle Jonathan, an amateur wizard, in a rambling old house that turns out to hide a doomsday clock built into its walls by a previous, malevolent owner. John Bellairs introduced the character in The House with a Clock in Its Walls (1973), illustrated by Edward Gorey, and after Bellairs's death Brad Strickland continued the series from his notes and outlines for most of its later volumes. It blends gothic horror atmosphere with a gentler, more whimsical strain of children's fantasy.
- Little Wooden Horse
series3 books1938
completed
similar byfriendshipfantasyadventurousour world+2 more
Ursula Moray Williams's Little Wooden Horse books follow a toymaker's wooden horse who sets out to earn money for his aging, poverty-stricken maker, enduring a string of owners and hardships along the way. The character's world later crosses over with Williams's other well-known creation in The Further Adventures of Gobbolino and the Little Wooden Horse, pairing the horse with the witch's cat from her separate Gobbolino books. Both are mid-century British children's stories built around a stoic animal hero's misfortunes.
- The Sixty-Eight Rooms
series4 books2010
similar byadventurousmiddle gradefantasyour worldnorth america+3 more
- The Dead Gentleman
Matthew Codystandalone novel2011
similar byadventurousfriendshipfantasyour worldmiddle gradeportal fantasynorth america
Eleven-year-old orphan Tommy Learner's world in 1900 New York City collides with that of twelve-year-old, modern-day Jezebel Lemon in the basement of her apartment building, where together they must use the portals between worlds to thwart the Dead Gentleman, a legendary villain whose last unconquered world is the planet Earth.
- The Enchanted Castle
E. Nesbitstandalone novel1907
similar bylightheartedmagical artifactsfantasyour world+1 more
On a dull school holiday, siblings Jerry and Jimmy and their friend Kathleen stumble across a grand, hidden estate in the countryside, with a lake, marble statues, and a maze at its heart. Inside the maze they find what looks like a sleeping princess, who claims the castle is enchanted and shows them a ring that grants invisibility -- until it works, and the panicked 'princess' turns out to be Mabel, the housekeeper's niece, playing a game gone further than intended. The ring's magic turns out to be entirely real, answering the children's own careless, half-formed wishes. One of E. Nesbit's best-loved fantasies for children.
- House of Secrets
series3 books2013
similar byadventurousfantasyportal fantasymiddle grade+4 more
Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini's House of Secrets follows the three Walker children after they move into an unusual new home and their parents are taken from them; the children set out to find a secret book that holds the key to getting them back. The series continues across two more books, Battle of the Beasts and Clash of the Worlds, the latter co-written with Chris Rylander.
- Stig of the Dump
Clive Kingstandalone novel1963
similar bymid 20th centuryadventurousfriendshipfantasy
Stig of the Dump is a children's novel by Clive King which was first published in the United Kingdom in 1963. It is regarded as a modern children's classic and is often read in schools. It was illustrated by Edward Ardizzone and has been adapted twice for television, in 1981 and in 2002. It was featured in a broadcast as an adaptation on BBC Home Service for schools in November 1964, and later on the BBC series Blue Peter.
- Joplin, Wishing
Diane Stanleystandalone novel2017
similar bymagical artifactsfriendshipfantasyour worldmiddle gradeportal fantasy+1 more
While cleaning out her reclusive grandfather s house, Joplin discovers pieces of a broken platter in a cookie tin. After having the platter repaired, Joplin wishes that she could both find a friend at school, and befriend the girl pictured in the platter. The next day, Joplin befriends a boy named Barrett, and also notices a girl outside her apartment. A girl who looks remarkably like the girl in the platter.
- A String in the Harp
Nancy Bondstandalone novel1976
similar bymagical artifactsfantasyour worldmiddle gradetime travel+1 more
A String in the Harp is a children's fantasy novel by Nancy Bond first published in 1976. It received a 1977 Newbery Honor award and the Welsh Tir na n-Og Award. It tells of the American Morgan family who temporarily move to Wales, where Peter Morgan finds a magical harp key that gives him vivid visions of the past. This well-received novel is an unusual time travel story, with its focus on the emotional pain and separation the Morgans experience after the death of their mother and the gradual healing they find through their experiences.
- Baseball Card Adventures
series12 books1997
similar byadventurousmiddle gradetime travelnorth america+1 more
- The Door Into Summer
Robert A. Heinleinstandalone novel1957
similar byadventuroustime travelnorth america+1 more
From the first page of the Signet 6th printing: "An electronics engineer invents a wizard robot... only to find himself shanghaied by his ruthless partner and his gold-digging fiancee. The crafty pair forces him to submit to the "long sleep" - suspended animation for thirty years. But when he wakes up in the year 2000 A.D. the inventor makes a startling discovery. He learns that it is possible now to twist time forwards or backwards. And so he returns to the past bent on a mission... of revenge."
- A Walk in Wolf Wood
Mary Stewartstandalone novel1980
similar byadventurousfantasymiddle gradeportal fantasy+1 more
WorldCat: When a weeping man in a strange costume passes their picnic spot and disappears into the nearby woods, a brother and sister decide to follow him and soon find themselves involved in the rescue of a werewolf in the 14th century.
- Tom's Midnight Garden
Philippa Pearcestandalone novel1958
similar bymid 20th centuryfriendshipfantasyportal fantasy
Tom's Midnight Garden is a children's fantasy novel by English author Philippa Pearce. It was first published in 1958 by Oxford University Press with illustrations by Susan Einzig. The story is about a twelve-year-old boy, Tom, who, while staying with his aunt and uncle, slips out at midnight and discovers a magical, mysterious Victorian garden where he befriends a young girl named Hatty. The novel has been reissued in print many times and also adapted for radio, television, cinema, and the stage.
- Season of Ponies
Zilpha Keatley Snyderstandalone novel1964
similar bymid 20th centuryfriendshipfantasyour worldmiddle grade+1 more
Isolated on a farm with two maiden aunts, 10-year-old Pamela experiences a "season of ponies". "... The friendship of Girl (Pamela) and Ponyboy is defined clearly, and the effect of their companionship on Pamela's other, more immediate life seems logical to the reader because of the convincing presentation. Topflight fantasy." --Kirkus Reviews
- Out of Time
John Marsdenstandalone novel1990
similar byadventurousfantasyour worldportal fantasytime travel+1 more
James, a strange, silent boy, makes the acquaintance of old Mr. Woodford, a physicist who constructs a mysterious black box, but when the box comes into the boy's possession, it draws him into a magical and dangerous world, in and out of time.
- The Halloween Tree
Ray Bradburystandalone novel1972
similar byfriendshipfantasyour worldmiddle grade+1 more
Eight boys gather on Halloween night to trick-or-treat with their ninth friend, Pipkin, only Pipkin never shows, having vanished on some errand that may cost him his life. A strange, black-robed guide named Moundshroud appears to lead the boys after him, and the chase turns into a journey through the history of the holiday itself: ancient Egypt, druidic Britain, Rome, medieval Paris, and the Mexican Day of the Dead, each stop peeling back another layer of how humanity has faced death and the dark. Ray Bradbury's Halloween novel doubles as a compressed history of the holiday's origins.
