The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories, 1)

I felt like I had to speak up because most people comment on how their child could not put it down, but when they read the book themselves, it wasn’t great writing/ dialogue/ repetitive language, etc.
My concern as a Mom of four? The moral judgements that I just don’t want my kids absorbing. The brother and sister mostly get along, which is nice, but to have a sibling show their love for another one by helping them cheat on a test? Uh, NO. Enabling isn’t love, folks. The book is sprinkled with morally dubious examples like that one. Skip. Next.
“Fablehaven” or for older readers “The Hero and the Crown” or if you like moral twists that make you THINK- “The School for Good and Evil”. “Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow” for an amazing adaptation of a fairy tale.

I am a 4th grade teacher and I read this book to my class. Most of my students LOVED it and always begged me to read more. The story line is very engaging and quick-moving. It was a great way to review fairy tales. Even as an adult I was very entertained by the adventures of these two kids as they journey through the Land of Stories and meet all of the fairy-tale characters we grew up reading about.

The reason I gave it 4 stars is because of the language. There is an occasional swear word which is just unnecessary. Obviously I didn't read those words aloud, but a few kids following along know that they were there. I have a hard time recommending a book to kids that has language that I wouldn't want them using.

As a 10th grader I'm not quite sure I should be reviewing this book. My Aunt, who teaches 4th-6th graders stated that her student loves this book and proceeded to give this to me as a Christmas gift.

Being a bit dumbstruck by the fact that she thought I would actually read this book and immediately knew I wouldn't be reading this book. Yet here I am, a week later writing this review.

Let's be clear, I didn't finish this book, actually I only got about 50 pages into it. That's still enough for me to have a very strong opinion on this so called "piece of literature".

This book is horrible. If you want your child to puke from the bland, unrelatable characters simply hand them this book. It seems as if the author purposely made the two protagonist of this story polar opposites. Yet, instead of gradually showing us their personality and differences, he simply states every they don't have in common. He even goes so far to give the reader meaningless flash backs.

As with most tween books, I was expecting a face paced read yet, even 50 pages into the book the children hadn't even embarked into this Land of Stories. That was a disappointment.

For a man who has graduated highschool, you'd think his reading level would be a least that of a 8th. I was so wrong. His similes were horrible and somehow managed to reword exactly what the two main character had just said. If you're looking to challenge your child with this book please exit out of this browser and delete your search history.

At the beginning of this book, it gives you a map of the Land of Stories. Appreciating the visual I was glad to open it yet, as I had slowly grown accustom to with this book, I was disappointed again. The naming of each landmark on the map was utterly stupid. Their was no imagination not effort put into the map.

When I have the chance I'm going to burn this atrocity of a book.

In conclusion, don't buy this book unless it's only purpose is to look pretty on your book shelf.

Great book. My 8 year old loves it. But it has some surprise curse words and phrases that have shocked me a bit. Even some insinuations that I could have lived without.

My two daughters had opposite reactions to this book. I now understand why after just reading some of the first book in this series. My oldest daughter, 12 yo, has a strong filter that she uses when she reads. She realized very quickly how many adult ideas were inserted into this kids' book. My younger daughter, 10 yo, didn't notice the language and all of the implied meanings of actions and words in the story. Within a few pages of reading this book, I realized how many adult concepts are put into this book! Honestly, I'm pretty floored. Interestingly, none of the other negative reviews that I read mention this.

Here are a few examples from when Alex and Connor visit Red Riding Hood's castle...
1. She is wearing a pink corset while sitting on the throne and showing way too much skin (almost word for word the author's description). Then she leans over as far as she can without falling out of the throne.
Really??? Why does she need to do this in a kids' book for 4th-6th graders? Adults will realize what she's doing (showing her bust), but most kids don't. But, some kids will realize what Red Riding Hood is doing...
2. Connor identifies the basket room by remembering the portrait on the wall next to it--a portrait of Red Riding Hood wearing barely any clothing except for a wolf skin coat... Again, Really???
And of course, it goes on...

My oldest daughter didn't like a lot of the attitudes that Connor and Alex give each other. She didn't enjoy how they related to each other. My younger daughter loves fairy tale books--I just wish I had realized sooner that these books were a waste of her time. There are much better fairy tale books out their for her to read.

So, if you're looking for good fantasy books for your 4th-6th grader to read, pass on these. I'd recommend Gail Carson Levine's fairy tales instead, or George MacDonald's Light Princess, or his Princess and the Goblin books, or the Castle Glower series by Jessica Day George.

Bought this for my grade schooler. There are so many things that are completely inappropriate for young kids. There is language (piss off, floozy, harlot, bimbo, etc); implied pornography (Red Riding is wearing only a wolf skin coat in a portrait); suggestiveness (Jack and Goldilocks are "kissing passionately" through a fence, and Conner says "It's a good thing there are bars between them") age inappropriate genital jokes (Conner gets in cold water and states that they are now "twin sisters". ); fluid morality that if you love someone then you don't need to follow the rules (cheat on tests, lie). Aside from that, it is poorly written, and if I didn't NEED to read it to make sure it was appropriate for my kids, I would never have read past the first 5 pages.

Exciting and magical!
If you are looking for an excellent and edge of your seat book from the series of The Land of Stories then The Land of Stories the Wishing Spell is for you! This book will transport you right away into the world of magic, fairies, and goblins. Chris Colfer does an extraordinarily good job at making the characters extremely realistic and leaving you on the edge of her seat. From the two main characters Alex and Conner Bailey we learn that perseverance is key to success and not trying is not an option. In this book Alex and Conner Bailey are normally 6th grade twins. They only live with their mom because their dad died in a car crash. One day they find out that their grandmother is actually the fairy godmother of the fairy tale world.They find this out because for their birthday their grandmother gives them an old fairy tale treasury and the twins fell into the book landing in the fairytale world. The twins are trying to find a way out of the book but a dark force is trying to stop them. Will they make it home or will they be stuck in the fairy tale world forever?
In The Land of Stories the Wishing Spell the book has great description that clearly paints a picture in you mind at all times. At this part in the book they are describing a jail cell, “The dungeon was a miserable place. Light was scarce and flickered from the torched bolted to the stone walls. Foul-smelling water dripped inside from the moat circling the palace above. Large rats chased each other across the floor searching for food. This was no place for a queen,”(pg.1). During this part you can clearly picture this dungeon that a queen is locked up in, with water dripping from the walls and very little light. And off the bat it already gets you wondering about why a queen would be locked up in a dungeon. Another piece of evidence that shows description is “Mrs.Peters was a tall, thin woman who always wore a dress that resembled old, patterned sofas. Her hair was dark and curly and sat perfectly on top of her head like a hat (and her students often though it was). Through a pair of thick glasses hee eyes were permanently squinted from all the judgmental looks she has given her classes over the years,”(pg. 12). This can clearly show you what Alex and Connor's teacher Mrs.Peters looks like with her squinted eyes and perfect hair. It gives you an image so vivid it could be in a movie. And that is why in The Land of Stories the Wishing Spell the book has great description that clearly paints a picture in you mind at all times.
The book also has characters that have real emotions and that are easy to relate to. One piece from the book is when Alex and Conner are in class and its relatable, “Alex Bailey eagerly sat straight up in her seat.She really enjoyed her teachers lessons.(...) Connor Bailey jumped back to life, almost knocking his desk over. He had dozed off again,” (pg 16). This is relatable on both sides of the bialy twins school day. Some people may be into school and love learning about new and interesting things, and others may be into school but maybe it's boring to them sometimes so they doze off. In that specific part of the story it's when the kids just went to class and their teacher was giving them a lesson about fairy tales . Another piece of evidence that shows that the characters are relatable is,”Look,’ Alex said, and pointed to a for sale sign next to the oak tree. A bright red stripe with the word sold had been recently added to it, Alex's eyes welled up with tears,” (pg 30). This shows very human like emotions because in this part in the book Alex and Connor's childhood house just sold and now they can't live there anymore. And all of this evidence clearly shows the characters in the book have very human like emotions which makes them easy to relate to.
And in the book it has cliffhangers at every moment. One piece of evidence that supports this is, “Alex leaned further forward the book and fell in. ‘Alex NO’ Conner yelled as he saw he fall into the book,” (pg 78). This is a huge cliffhanger because Alex found out that a fairy tale book was a porthole to the fairytale world and she fell into it, and connor was watching her fall in and there is almost no way out. Another Piece of evidence is,”It was impossible for the kids to stop staring. They both stood in front of her as if she was a rabid t rex. The witch was skinny with lots of burn marks, they started to step away then the witch lunged at Connor and grabbed his arm,” (pg 112). This part is a cliffhanger because they just found the witch in the gingerbread house from the book Hansel and Gretel and the witch was trying to invite them into her house then she grabbed Connor and you get concerned about what might happen to them.This shows the book it has cliffhangers at every moment.
All in all the book The Land of Stories the Wishing Spell By Chris Colfer is an exciting, fun book about kids in a fairy tale world.Its is a total cliffhanger and there are goblins and trolls at every corner.It shows you that perseverance is key to success and not trying is not an option. But also we learn from the Connor and Alex Bailey is,whenever they have a task to complete they are normally uncomfortable in that situation,but they always complete the task. So we learn from them that stepping outside your comfort zone can make you stronger.

Full of inappropriate soap opera style junk
I've been wanting to read these books for awhile. Never did it occur to me to check the content of a fairy tale story targeted to an 8 -10 year old audience! The supposed story is two kids fall into a story book. They try to collect items to be able to return home. I could take the mortal danger one minute and then without any effort on their part and totally out of the blue they are rescued and miraculously given the object they sought the next. That's what makes the target audience so young - no real depth to the story and moves in and out of danger as smoothly and quickly as breathing. However, the two main messages/morals of the story explained in the end are 1)being good or evil isn't a choice - it's determined by circumstance. The main characters are only good because they had good parents and a nice life. The evil queen is evil because someone hurt her. It's said multiple times that villains are only victims whose story hasn't been told. I'm all for compassion and understanding, but that does not justify evil actions against others. 2) Any action is justified if it involves "love." The almost greater plot to the twins trying to get home is a Red Riding Hood - Goldilocks - Jack and the Bean Stalk soap opera. Goldilocks was framed as a child by Red Riding Hood who wanted to get her out of the way so Jack would pay attention to her. This forces Red Riding Hood to live as a fugitive and continue to commit crimes (theme #1 -even though she's lived a life of crime and is wanted in every kingdom - she's not bad - she's a victim, so must forever live a life of crime). Jack's not interested in Red Riding Hood because his "heart belongs" to Goldilocks. Jack mopes around and life is meaningless because he's not with his true love. However, Jack makes a new basket as a gift and visits Queen Red Riding Hood every week. Red Riding Hood throws herself at Jack every week when he comes. She also dresses immodestly and has risque pictures of herself throughout her castle - which are described and noticed by the 12 year old main character. (It's presented as only natural he should have been drawn to look at and remember them.) The evil queen reveals to Goldilocks that Red framed her as a child. Goldilocks is then justified in trying to kill Red Riding Hood for getting between her and Jack. The two call each other derogatory sexual slurs while battling. Jack stands by watching and doing nothing because "nothing could be done" to stop the fight and since "love" is involved they should fight it out rather than talk about it. In the end Red begs forgiveness for framing Goldilocks, pardons Goldilocks for her crimes in her kingdom, and helps Goldilocks escape from prison to avoid being held accountable for her crimes in another kingdom. Rather than marrying Jack and living happily ever after in the Red Riding Hood Kingdom, Jack runs off with Goldilocks to live a life of crime as fugitives. They become the biggest outlaws, but at least "they are together forever in each other's arms." It takes all of one day for the forever heartbroken Red Riding Hood to set her sites on the next single man she meets and start throwing herself at him. The evil queen was a good person as young girl. When an evil enchantress trapped her lover, a boy named Mirror, in a mirror, her heart was broken. She had her heart removed because she couldn't bear the pain and commits a series of murders - to get revenge and then to get power to try and free her lover. When her story is told everyone cries and forgives her murders and other evil deeds because she was only trying to get her true love back and killing Snow White was justified (even necessary) because the evil queen was jealous and hurt when "Mirror" said Snow White was fairer. Again theme #1 - if someone hurt you, you must lie, deceive, and kill because you are a victim and theme # 2 - if it's in the name of "love" anything is justified. Other content parents need to be aware of - the Lord's name is taken in vain several times, love letters between the young future evil queen and Mirror talk about how they can't wait to hold each other and touch each other's skin, etc., and when swimming in cold water the boy comments he's so cold he might turn into a girl. (This might be funny to boys , but young girls don't need to have boys' private parts brought into their minds in the middle of what's supposed to be a children's fairy tale story. If it goes over there head, why put it in in the first place?) Although compassion is somewhat of a theme, it's done wrong. We can have compassion for people who have been hurt. We can be understanding while trying to help them heal. Compassion does not mean we justify or tolerate evil actions. No one is justified in hurting others. It is not necessary to hurt others or make bad choices because someone hurt us. The story idea had great potential. Why ruin it with all the junk? It didn't further or help the story at all. It had nothing to do with the proposed story line, but became one of the main story lines. There's also that all the rulers are women, all the action is done by women - men exist as soldiers and princes. The princes' main roles seems to be to worship their queens and father children for the queens. I'm so glad I read one before I bought the series!

The idea that villains do not exist - only people who have troubled circumstances, is such an appalling lie that I am surprised this made it on the best seller list. Good and evil exist and good children's literature reflects that reality.
The various kingdoms, each attached to a particular princess with all the princes being brothers and carbon copies of each other, also did not work well as a background. The characters of these individuals were weak and colorless.

I read this book with my daughter, after having received a positive review of it, much like the 5-star reviews on this page. Allow me to provide a little balance. I liked the concept of the story, and I truly wanted to love this book. However, it did not take long to realize that this book is nothing special. Chris Colfer has some unique and fun ideas as a storyteller, but he is simply not a good writer. As I read this aloud, I had to correct simple grammar mistakes and I found myself repeatedly rolling my eyes at the horrible dialogue. Unfortunately, that is all there is to the story, because there is no colorful narrative to help in the telling. It's all one bad line after another. Conner, the male half of the twin duo, was the delivery agent for most of the worst lines, and it made his character tough to like very much. Moreover, there is no subtlety as the story unfolds--even my 10 year old daughter commented as we got towards the end that she couldn't believe the twins hadn't figured things out yet. If this is an example of the types of books that can get published, I cannot imagine what is being rejected. We trudged through to the end, but we won't be reading any of the sequels. There are too many wonderful examples of children's literature out there, and children will appreciate the difference. Put J.K. Rowling, Roald Dahl, EB White, Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, and Beverly Cleary on your children's reading list instead.