When I first heard that the guy from Glee was writing a children’s book, it was easy to roll my eyes and think, “Oh great, another T.V. celebrity using their fame to sell books”. However, Chris Colfer played Kurt on Glee, and he sorta won my heart when he sang Defying Gravity[1], so I thought I’d give his book a whirl. When he spoke at the BEA Children’s Authors Breakfast[2] he explained a bit more about his book and it sounded interesting, so I thought, perhaps there will be more to it than just another celebrity book; I was not disappointed.

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell is a great book to read aloud to kids - or, to read yourself. All the fairytale characters that we cherish as children, come alive on the pages. Twins, Alex and Conner, find themselves in a land where the characters from the stories they heard growing up turn out to be real. Sleeping Beauty really did fall asleep and now, awoken, is having problems keeping her kingdom awake long enough to function. Cinderella had a lot of friction with the people in her kingdom, especially the richer folks, who were angry that Prince Charming did not choose one of their daughters, and the Big Bad Wolf pack runs around the woods terrorizing people.

To find their way home, Alex and Conner must collect some magical items to make a Wishing Spell. The quest takes them all across the land - in a race against an unknown stranger who seem to be collecting items for the spell as well - and they need to be the first to find it, or they wouldn’t be able to find their way home.

There are many fun references to fairytale characters and their lives off the pages. This story is imaginative and I think parents and children will have a good time reading it together and perhaps even making up their own “off the page” stories. It’s a long story, however, I believe it will captivate children, especially those with wild imaginations, for a very long time. The Land of Stories is fast paced with tons of action to keep children engaged in reading.

I do want to stress that this book is suitable for young children. While middle graders will enjoy it, I think that it might be best suited for even younger children. Regardless of its length, younger kids would be able to appreciate the land and the stories, especially if they’ve recently read the fairytales, while older kids (and adults) might find it a bit on the simple side.

I enjoyed reading this story[3] and am definitely looking forward to seeing what Chris Colfer’s imagination serves up next.

[received an ARC at BEA]

[1] Quite possibly my favourite Broadway song.
[2] Book Expo America, I didn’t make the breakfast, but I did see it online. Great job on that BEA folks!
[3] Yes, I enjoyed it, even though I’m not a very young child - though some might beg to differ.