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Magic,
friendship, and fantasy are eloquently combined in an
exciting and intriguing new Disney book series, W.I.T.C.H. The
series, which is already an international success, stars five girls who discover they are joined
together by powerful, otherworldly forces.
The first
book, The Power of Five, tells the story of how the
girls meet and slowly begin to discover their powers. W.I.T.C.H.
is an acronym for the girls' names: Will, Irma, Taranee,
Cornelia, and Hay Lin. Each girl has special powers — four
of them have power over the natural elements (earth, air,
water, and fire) and Will is their leader, the keeper of the
Heart of Candracar. Together, they are the Guardians of
the Veil, the barrier that separates good from evil.
Since the
W.I.T.CH. series was born of a comic strip, it is only
fitting that the book opens and closes with full-color
comics — a fun perk that helps draw children in.
The first
book unfolds slowly and is largely dedicated to introducing
the characters and their destiny. It isn't until the second half of the book
before we are introduced to the
otherworldly powers at work, although magical powers are certainly
alluded to in the first half of The Power of Five.
There are
a lot of characters to digest, making this book a little
difficult to get into for children younger than
approximately 11. The vocabulary used is another reason
we recommend the series to children ages 11 and over.
Girls
will love the strong, well-developed heroines of the series.
Although the series certainly contains some dark elements,
it is relatively tame compared to some other fantasies.
The first
4 books of the series are:
#1:
The Power of Five
#2: The
Disappearance
#3:
Finding Meridian
#4:
The Fire of Friendship
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