More like Vanishing Magic
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- The Hobbit
series2 books1937
completed
part of Tolkien's legendarium
similar byfantasymiddle gradewhimsical+2 more
The Hobbit (1937) is J. R. R. Tolkien's children's fantasy novel following the reluctant burglar Bilbo Baggins, who joins a company of dwarves and the wizard Gandalf on a journey to reclaim treasure guarded by the dragon Smaug. It stands as a complete adventure on its own, but shares its setting with the rest of Tolkien's legendarium and leads into the events of The Lord of the Rings.
- Five Children Universe
series27 books1902
completed
similar byfantasybritish isles+3 more
Two separate modern continuations of E. Nesbit's Psammead stories were written decades apart by different authors: Helen Cresswell's The Return of the Psammead (1992) brings the wish-granting sand fairy back for a new set of children, while Kate Saunders's Five Children on the Western Front (2014) follows the now-grown Lamb and his siblings as the First World War arrives, in a more somber sequel to Nesbit's original trilogy. Neither book is by Nesbit herself, and the two have no direct connection to each other beyond both drawing on her creation. Later writers have kept returning to Nesbit's premise long after her own trilogy ended.
- Narnia
series26 books1950
part of Narnia Universe
similar bycoming of agefantasy+2 more
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia, a fantasy world of magic, mythical beasts, and talking animals. It narrates the adventures of various children who play central roles in the unfolding history of the Narnian world. Except in The Horse and His Boy, the protagonists are all children from the real world who are magically transported to Narnia, where they are sometimes called upon by the lion Aslan to protect Narnia from evil. The books span the entire history of Narnia, from its creation in The Magician's Nephew to its eventual destruction in The Last Battle.
- The Ogre Downstairs
Diana Wynne Jonesstandalone novel1974
similar bycoming of agefantasylightheartedbritish isleswhimsical
When a disagreeable man with two boys marries a widow with three children, family adjustments are complicated by two magic chemistry sets which cause strange things to happen around the house.
- Tales of Magic
series7 books1954
completed
similar byfantasywhimsical+3 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 Enchanted Castle
E. Nesbitstandalone novel1907
similar byfantasylightheartedbritish isleswhimsical+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.
- Chrestomanci
series12 books1977
completed
similar byfantasybritish islesmiddle gradewhimsical+1 more
Chrestomanci, sometimes branded The Worlds of Chrestomanci, is a heptalogy of children's fantasy books written by British author Diana Wynne Jones, published from 1977 to 2006. In the context of the parallel universe setting of the books, Chrestomanci refers to both the British government office that is responsible for supervising the use of magic and Chrestomanci Castle in southern England, which is both residence and headquarters.
- Beswitched
Kate Saundersstandalone novel2010
similar bycoming of agefantasybritish islesmiddle gradewhimsical+1 more
On her way, reluctantly, to a boarding school in present-day England, Flora suddenly finds herself in 1935, the new girl at St. Winifred's, having been summoned via a magic spell by her new dormitory mates.
- Bod Owens
series3 books2007
similar bycoming of agefantasybritish islesmiddle grade
The Graveyard Book follows Nobody "Bod" Owens, a toddler who escapes the murder of his family and is raised among the ghosts of an old English graveyard, absorbing their otherworldly customs while a threat from his past waits beyond the gates. Neil Gaiman's 2008 novel won both the Newbery and Carnegie Medals, and illustrator P. Craig Russell later adapted it into a two-volume graphic novel. Bod's story spans the original novel and that graphic-novel retelling rather than continuing in a prose sequel.
- The Dark Is Rising
series5 books1965
similar byfantasybritish isles+2 more
The Dark Is Rising Sequence is a series of five contemporary fantasy novels for older children and young adults that were written by the British author Susan Cooper and published from 1965 to 1977. The first book in the series, Over Sea, Under Stone, was originally conceived as a stand-alone novel, and the sequence gets its name from the second novel in the series, The Dark Is Rising. The Dark Is Rising Sequence is used as an overarching title in several omnibus, boxed-set, and coordinated editions; but the title of The Dark Is Rising is also used for the whole series.
- The Daydreamer
Ian McEwanstandalone novel1994
similar bycoming of agefantasylightheartedbritish isleswhimsical
The Daydreamer is a 1994 children's novel by British author Ian McEwan. Illustrated by Anthony Browne. The novel was first published by Jonathan Cape. It draws its plot directly from the Rankin/Bass movie, The Daydreamer (1966) in which a young boy daydreams and enters a world of Hans Christian Andersen stories. It is considered to be McEwan's first book for children, or second if taking into account the picture book Rose Blanche (1985). Critics praised McEwan's imagination, but noted that the book had high "sweetness-and-light levels".
- Enchanted Forest
series7 books1985
similar byfantasylightheartedmiddle grade+2 more
Patricia Collins Wrede is an American author of fantasy literature. She is known for her Enchanted Forest Chronicles series for young adults, which was voted number 84 in NPR's 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels list.
- Stardust
Neil Gaimanstandalone novel1998
similar bycoming of agefantasywhimsical+1 more
Stardust is a 1999 fantasy novel by British writer Neil Gaiman, usually published with illustrations by Charles Vess. Stardust has a different tone and style from most of Gaiman's prose fiction, being consciously written in the tradition of pre-Tolkien English fantasy, following in the footsteps of authors such as Lord Dunsany and Hope Mirrlees. It is concerned with the adventures of a young man from the village of Wall, which borders the magical land of Faerie.
- Elidor
Alan Garnerstandalone novel1965
similar bycoming of agefantasybritish isles
Elidor is a children's fantasy novel by the British author Alan Garner, published by Collins in 1965. Set primarily in modern Manchester, it features four English children who enter a fantasy world, fulfill a quest there, and return to find that the enemy has followed them into our world. Translations have been published in nine languages and it has been adapted for television and radio.
- Dogsbody
Diana Wynne Jonesstandalone novel1975
similar byfantasybritish isles+2 more
Sirius the dog star, is reborn on earth as a puppy with a mission to search for the lost Zoi, the murder weapon of the stars.
- Peter Pan Universe
universe112 books1902
Start herePeter Pan · Start here
similar byfantasy+2 more
Second star to the right, and straight on till morning — and there it is, the island that every child dreams once and then, growing up, contrives to forget. Neverland: mermaids in the lagoon, a ticking crocodile with a clock in its belly, a pirate nursing his severed hand, and above it all the boy who will not grow up, forever flying, forever heartless in the lovely careless way that only children are. It begins with J. M. Barrie — the 1904 stage play, the chapters of Kensington Gardens, and the novel Peter and Wendy that fixed Peter, Wendy, Tinker Bell, Hook and the Lost Boys in place. From that small window a wide world has flown. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson supply the how-it-all-began in their Starcatchers books, chasing falling starstuff aboard a doomed ship to explain why one orphan came to fly and never age. A whole bright shelf tends Tinker Bell's Pixie Hollow — the Disney Fairies and Fairy Haven tales, Kiki Thorpe's Never Girls — while Heidi Schulz hands the wheel to Hook's own daughter, and stranger, dimmer corners carry the island into far darker weather. Many hands, one archipelago; no single map governs them all. What sets it apart is the sweetness with a blade in it — wonder shadowed always by the ache of leaving, of mothers who keep the window open and children who fly home too late. Newcomers should begin where it began, with Barrie's Peter and Wendy, then, for the origin, take the Starcatchers books in their own order. The rest of Neverland waits, as it always does, for whoever still remembers how to reach it.
- Angels Unlimited
series12 books2001
similar bycoming of agefantasylighthearted
Angels Unlimited is the title of a series of novels written for teenagers by the British author Annie Dalton. The protagonist is Melanie Beeby, who died on the day after her thirteenth birthday and soon found herself at the Angel Academy in heaven. As of July 2013, there are twelve novels, three omnibus books, and now twelve updated and revised ebooks. The overall title of the series has also been changed to Angel Academy.
- The Little White Horse
Elizabeth Goudgestandalone novel1946
similar bycoming of agefantasybritish isleswhimsical
The Little White Horse is a low fantasy children's novel by Elizabeth Goudge, first published by the University of London Press in 1946 with illustrations by C. Walter Hodges, and Anne Yvonne Gilbert in 1992. Coward–McCann published a US edition next year. Set in 1842, it features a recently orphaned teenage girl who is sent to the manor house of her cousin and guardian in the West Country of England. The estate, village, and vicinity are shrouded in mystery and magic; the "little white horse" is a unicorn.
- Whispering to Witches
Anna Dalestandalone novel2004
similar byfantasylightheartedbritish islesmiddle grade+1 more
Whispering to Witches is British writer Anna Dale's first novel, published in 2004 by Bloomsbury Publishing. It is a magical mystery adventure intended for children age 8–12. It was publisher Bloomsbury's main title for Autumn 2004 and was scheduled for distribution in the UK, the United States, Germany, and other countries.
- Tom's Midnight Garden
Philippa Pearcestandalone novel1958
similar bycoming of agefantasybritish isles
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.
