The Wishing Spell by Chistopher Colfer

“‘Once upon a time' These are the most magical words our world has ever known and the gateway to the greatest stories ever told.”

Alex and Conner are twins but they are very different. Alex has always been nerdy and smart, she loves school and reading, Conner has always been the funny one who struggled with school. They’re father died suddenly right before their 11th birthday and it's been a hard year. Now they’re turning 12 and their grandmother drops by to surprise them for their birthday. She gives them her book of fairy tales that she read to them as children. One night the book starts glowing and birds fly out of it and Alex falls in. Conner follows her to make sure she's all right. They end up in the land of stories where all the fairytales from their grandmother's book are real.  They meet a talking frog, see Goldilocks’s wanted posters, and Rapunzel's tower. Alex wants to see as much of this fairy tale land as possible but Conner is sceptical. The longer they are there, they start to realise that although these stories had been written in their world hundreds of years ago it seems only a decade or so has passed in this fairy tale world. Alex and Conner start worrying how they will get back before years have passed in the real world. They find something called the wishing spell, If they can collect all the objects needed they can make one wish and it will come true. To collect these items they must travel across the whole world, but they don’t realise that someone else far more dangerous is also trying to find them. As they race across this strange new world, will they be able to get home before it’s too late?

Christopher Colfer’s The Wishing Spell is a fun and action packed fantasy book that combines classic fairy tales with our modern world. I loved reading about how differently Alex and Conner dealt with losing their Father and how they react to discovering this new land of stories. Colfer’s world building is absolutely fantastic, he creates a rich and exciting “land of stories” full of amazing details. Although this book is for a bit younger audiences (as Alex and Conner are 12 in this book) it’s still a quick fun read for fans of classic fairy tales and as the series goes on, it follows the twins as they grow up.