Martha Bloom and the Glass Compass

Estelle Grace Tudor's Martha Bloom and the Glass Compass is a cosy fairy adventure for 9 year olds about the most sensible of the Blooms and a school full of little creatures who suddenly vanish.

What happens

Martha is thirteen, one of the two eldest Bloom children, and the one who fiddles with her flower crown until it's exactly right.

The Blooms have a secret. A tiny golden door in the attic of Castle Bloom opens into Fairy Land, and the family have kept it safe for generations.

This is a later adventure in the series, so the children already know their way around. They were at a royal wedding in Fairy Land at Christmas, and they've already crossed paths with the queen's wicked sister, Nesrin.

This time they're invited to the opening of Bloom Academy. It's a brand-new school for the little animals training to be companions to the Key Keepers. Martha is shown round by a shy brown bunny called Bracken (one ear always flopping over her eye).

Then a storm blows in out of nowhere. When it clears, every young companion has gone, and Octavia's mouse and Otto's otter with them.

Getting them back will take all five Blooms, and the Glass Compass Martha has used before.

It's cosy to read even when things go wrong. There are jam tarts at the castle, unicorns patterned with flowers, a flustered owl headmaster who drops his books on his feet and a fox with a very dry sense of humour.

The peril in the opening chapters is gentle. There's a sudden storm, a kidnapping and some small cuts from a shattered glass door.

Martha is a nice change from the usual bold heroine. She likes things done properly and she worries about everyone. It's good to see the careful one right at the centre of things for once.

If your reader loves animals, fairies and big noisy families, this is a lovely pick.

What to read next

This isn't where the Blooms' story starts, though. If you'd like to go back to the beginning, Octavia Bloom and the Missing Key is where the fairy door first appears, in a game of hide-and-seek in the forbidden attic.