The Fairy Realm Series - by Emily Rodda

While I could post about nothing but picture books, I know many of you with LGRs are looking for books they can read independently.  The Fairy Realm Series by Emily Rodda is a MUST have for any child who loves fairies, elves, mermaids and magic.


As with many of Janan's favorite books, we discovered the first book of this series at the local used book store and I still, on occasion, see them when we're out perusing the shelves.


There are ten books in the series.   The main heroine is a little girl named Jessie.  Her job is to save the Realm (which you learn was ruled by her Grandmother, Jessica, before she fell in love with a human and moved to our "mortal" world) from opening to the "Outlands" where trolls, goblins, dragons and many other less than hospitable creatures live ruled by an evil Queen, Valda, who wants to take over.


One issue I have - as with many children's books (for some strange, unknown reason) one parent has died.  In this series, Jessie's father is the passed on parental unit and her grandfather is also gone.  However, on the positive side, Rodda does create an amazingly strong connection between Jessie and her grandmother.


Any child who loves magic and the fact that a child can solve problems to "save the day" will devour this series.  At the end of the first book, Jessie is given a charm bracelet, which grants her access to the Realm.  And, in each subsequent book she gains a charm for her bracelet.  


Online it's listed for 1st or 2nd graders (depending on where you look), but Janan read this series at around 4 and often returned to it time and again (certain books more than others).  A little harder to find than some of the more popular fairy books associated with tv, cartoon and movie fairies, but definitely worth the search!