Kingdom of Wrenly – The Lost Stone

Jordan Quinn's The Lost Stone is the first Kingdom of Wrenly adventure for 5 year olds, about a lonely prince who wants a friend more than anything.

What happens

Prince Lucas has a goose-feather bed, the best cooks in the land and a horse of his very own. What he hasn't got is anyone to play with. His father, King Caleb, says a proper prince doesn't play with village children (which feels a bit harsh when you're eight).

So Lucas makes a plan. He buys some scruffy clothes from a village boy, slides down a rope from his window and turns up at the village school calling himself Flynn. It's all going well until he's up at the board doing his sums. Then the palace guards burst in!

The good news is that it gets him somewhere. His parents agree he can be friends with Clara again, the girl he used to play with at the palace. Then the queen loses her precious emerald, which belonged to her great-grandmother. Lucas promises to find it, and he wants Clara's help.

What follows is a lovely tour of the kingdom and its magical islands. There are fairies on Primlox who dress in ferns and feathers, a grumpy troll on Burth who wants paying before he'll tell you anything, and a very clumsy wizard on Hobsgrove. Each stop hands them a clue that sends them off somewhere new.

Clara is the one who really keeps it moving. She knows every corner of Wrenly because she's delivered bread all over it with her dad, and she's still got ideas when Lucas has run out. Who wouldn't want a friend like that?

It's a gentle read. There's lots of chat between the two of them, and the jokes are the sort a young reader will get straight away. Lucas spells out that being a prince is D-U-L-L, and Clara tells him that royally stinks. The ten chapters are short, so it works well read aloud a chapter at bedtime or tackled alone by a newish reader.

If you've got a reader who's ready for magic and adventure with no real scares, this is a super place to start. It's also very sweet on friendship, and on how much better a quest is with someone beside you.

What to read next

If they'd like more time with Lucas and Clara, The Bard and the Beast is another Wrenly adventure in the library. This time Lucas is stuck with lute lessons he really doesn't want, and a huge green feather turns up on the fairies' island.