Otherland

Louie Stowell's Otherland is a funny, spiky fairy adventure for 8 year olds about two kids who have to rescue a baby from the fairy queen.

What happens

Myra and Rohan were born on the same night in the same hospital. So every year their families throw a joint birthday party. And every year, somehow, Myra wrecks it.

This year she brings fireworks. She sets fire to the shed.

Rohan is furious (he's the sensible one, who wears a tie to his own party and sets up his fantasy board game very, very carefully). But while the grown-ups deal with the fire, something much stranger happens upstairs. Rohan's toddler sister isn't really Shilpa at all.

Enter Mab, a green-skinned fairy in a yellow top hat who says she's their fairy godmother. The fairy queen has taken the real Shilpa, and only humans can bring her back.

So off they go, straight through a mirror! First to a strange black beach between worlds, then on the backs of enormous birds with glittery eyes, and finally into Otherland itself, where the flowers watch you and the queen turns fairies into odd little creatures when they annoy her.

The fun is in the odd couple. Myra is loud and brave and never thinks first. Rohan worries about everything and badly wants to follow the rules. They drive each other up the wall, and you can tell from the start they're going to need each other.

Mab is brilliant too. She's funny and fabulous and slightly scary (is she really on their side?).

One thing to be ready for. The fake baby melts into the carpet right in front of Myra and Rohan, and for a moment they think Shilpa is dead. It's over fast, but it's creepy. There's a sad thread for Myra as well, who overhears her mum joking about packing her off to live with another family. A younger or more sensitive reader might want to share those bits with you.

For a child who likes their magic with a dark, silly edge, it's a real treat.

What to read next

Louie Stowell writes lighter magic too. Try The Monster in the Lake, one of her stories about Kit, a trainee wizard whose spells keep going wrong.