Welcome to the Enchanted Forest

Welcome to the Enchanted Forest by Rebecca Himmel Glassman tells the story of four sisters, a boy, and an enchanted forest filled with magic.

Sarah, Nikki, Mandy, and Rose live in a trailer park with their mother. Due to their mother's long working hours, they are left to fend for themselves. Their father left the family. In frustration, Sarah, twelve, plays mom, while Rose, nine, acts out, while Mandy, eleven, and Nikki, ten, throw up their hands. Rose discovers a cute furry puppy named Suzi outside their trailer.

The eleven-year-old Drew, who has no friends and parents who are always busy, is lonely and awkward. He finally has one good friend and learns that he'll be moving. Just before moving, his friend is grounded. Drew's childhood stuffed animal Charlie jumps out of a shelf one day. He talks and convinces Drew to go to the forest with him. Defying logic, Drew embarks on an adventure unlike any other!

The puppy, Suzi, and Charlie, the old stuffed dog Drew had sat on his shelf since he was a baby, were not ordinary toys. At about the same time, Suzi begins luring the girls to the forest's edge. Seeing Suzi running, Rose runs after her. At first, the other sisters are afraid to follow. A rabbit named Skip and a squirrel named Sparky sent them to bring the children to the enchanted forest.

There was a consensus in town that the forest was dangerous. There's something mysterious and dark about this forest, with its colorful lights shooting into the night sky after the sun goes down. Skip and Sparky are straight-backed talking animals. Additionally, they are able to read the minds of children. Their mission is to guide the children to the enchanted house. Mysteries and magic swirl around the enchanted house.

The chairs hug the children. On the tables, food appears magically. The children are able to observe what is happening in the forest through mirrors. The children see pictures of people they know. The doors appear and disappear.

To quote Skip and Sparky, “The magic and the enchantment of this place are entirely based on hopes and dreams. If you don’t believe and you have no hope, then everything is plain and boring and sad and lonely.”

Drew and Rose enjoy their time in the house. There are times when they get a bit scared, but it doesn't last long. Rose's sisters eventually enter the forest to find her.

It would be a spoiler to reveal more of the story.

Overall, I found Welcome to the Enchanted Forest to be pretty good. Sometimes I got a bit bored and I just wanted the book to end so that I could find out how it ended. In my opinion, it dragged on a bit. The content wasn't bad, because it wasn't. A great deal of imagination is displayed by the author. In my opinion, it could have been made a bit shorter. I think children in upper elementary and middle school would enjoy this book. There is a reading age of 10-18 listed on Amazon for the book. From my perspective, it would be more the age of 8-13.

Disclaimer - I received this Ebook in exchange for my honest thoughts.