Fablehaven, Brandon Mull

I am reading this series for the first time reading aloud to my 3rd grader. I have heard fabulous things about this series, although it was kind of slow for me. But then, the first couple Harry Potter books were slow for me too when I first started. So I'm not going to judge them as stand alone novels, I'm looking at them as what they'll contribute to the whole.

#1, I like Kendra. Because she is like me, I was and am not much of a rule breaker or bender. I liked how there were absolutely critical positive consequences for her actions of following the rules.

#2 Seth annoys me. Because no matter how many times he SAYS he gets it, I don't believe that he is truly capable of staying out of trouble. His attitude to me is baffling (and continues to baffle me in the second book we are currently reading). However, I do like the portrayal of negative consequences for rule breaking and I also like the fact that some rules are not 100% black and white and that sometimes you have to live the "spirit of the law" instead of the "letter of the law."

#3 I am really, REALLY hoping to get more and more back stories into Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson. I know one story is revealed in book 2, which I found extremely interesting and I hope I keep learning more!

#4 I like the more traditional, less Disney-esque portrayal of magical creatures. I like that it makes my daughter think that not all ideas of Fairies are identical. There's Disney fairies, Harry Potter's pixies, and Fabelhaven's Fairies and Imps and they all act differently. I think it helps her to open her mind more to exploring the different dimensions of not only fantastical creatures but people as well. At least I hope so...