The following are some classics and popular series’ by well-known authors. All contain a little bit of magic in their stories; a family who never grows old, a rolling and magical peach, an enchanted coin, an orphan raised by the dead of a cemetery, lost socks and those who ‘borrow’ them, friends at a wizarding school, orphaned siblings living with a dastardly uncle and a surprising nanny who arrives just when she’s needed. I’ve read many of the books on this list and there are a few I haven’t (and now want to read) - I hope you’ll give some a try!
Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbitt
The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when it discovers that a 10-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret, about a spring of magical water that prevents the drinker from ever growing any older.
James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
James' parents are trampled by a rhinoceros, and he is sent to live with his abusive aunts in this fantastic tale, illustrated by Quentin Blake. When James accidentally spills magical crocodile tongues on a peach tree, it grows the largest, juiciest, ripest peach imaginable — the perfect vehicle in which to escape his horrid aunts.
Half Magic - Edward Eager
Four cousins spending their summer vacation in a city apartment find an ancient coin and enjoy a series of fantastic adventures when they learn the coin is "half magic." Cheerful drawings by N.M. Bodecker illustrate the sometimes unexpected results of the children's wishes
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The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
Reared by ghosts, werewolves and other residents of the hillside cemetery he calls home, an orphan named Nobody Owens wonders how he will manage to survive among the living having learned all his lessons from the dead. And the man Jack — who killed the rest of Nobody's family — is itching to finish the job. Illustrations by Dave McKean.
The Borrowers - Mary Norton
Ever wondered why you're constantly losing socks? Or buttons, or paper clips, or postage stamps? Perhaps it's because you unwittingly live with Borrowers, tiny people who furnish their secret homes with castoffs "borrowed" from "human beans." The Clock family — mother Homily, father Pod and daughter Arrietty — live safely out of sight, until one day Pod is spotted by a human boy.
Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
The adventures of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, and his wand-wielding friends at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry, Ron and Hermione must master their craft and battle the machinations of the evil wizard Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
A Series of Unfortunate Events series - Lemony Snickett
The three Baudelaire children are sent to live with the dastardly fortune hunter Count Olaf when their parents die in a fire, and that is just the beginning of their misfortunes. Luckily for readers, the children encounter enough misery to fill 13 books of this deliciously morbid series.
Mary Poppins - P.L. Travers
A stern but magical English governess is blown into the Banks' lives by the east wind. She slides up the banisters, can produce enormous objects from her carpet bag, and takes the children to a tea party on the ceiling in this beloved children's classic.
Heidi Y.