If you are a fan of The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, or The Hunger Game,  you may already know about Brandon Mull’s young adult fantasy series.  I found Fablehaven by accident while browsing a local bookstore, and fell into a world of amazing characters – most of them not human.

When Kendra and Seth visit their grandparents, they find a strange world full of fairies, vengeful witches, and party-loving satyrs – all revealed when the children “drink the milk” from a special fifty foot cow “with hooves the size of hot tubs.” Grandma is a hen under a spell; the housekeeper is a naiad water nymph turned mortal; and Grandpa is the caretaker of a preserve for fairies and mythical beings on the endangered species list. Seth is the little boy who doesn’t abide by the grown-ups’ rules, and is constantly intruding into places and creatures that trigger trouble for everyone; thankfully, his big sister saves the day in a final battle of good vs. evil.  But the adventure continues in four more books.

With villains and vengeful fairies, Mull created an imaginative world for his target

Drink the milk

audience of middle schoolers, but adults may also enjoy the  clucking grandma and the overwrought witch gnawing at her knots – and laugh at the consequences for children who don’t mind their elders.