Secret Kingdom

At the bottom of the school jumble sale, under the chipped teacups and the odd socks, sits a plain wooden box with a mirror set in its lid. When Ellie, Summer and Jasmine open it together, the glass clouds over and a riddle appears, and solving it whisks all three friends away to the Secret Kingdom: a land of mermaid reefs and unicorn valleys and castles that drift on the clouds, ruled by the kindly, slightly muddled King Merry, whose crown is forever slipping over his eyes. The trouble is his sister. Queen Malice would far rather rule by fright, and each time she hurls one of her spiteful thunderbolts something in the kingdom goes wrong — a curse to lift, a lost treasure to find, a frightened creature to rescue before the box tugs the girls home again. The stories come in quests of six, one enchanted place per book, gathering into longer series that carry the friends across magic ponies, sea kingdoms, snow and sky, with holiday Specials besides. Written under the shared name Rosie Banks by a rotating team of authors, they are shaped for readers just old enough to manage a chapter on their own. Bright, gentle and never truly frightening, every adventure ends with everyone safely home and one small wonder tucked away for keeping. Begin at the very beginning — the first quest of Series One, The Enchanted Palace — and follow the box wherever its next riddle points.