If you saw the movie Five Children and It, disregard it - it has nothing to do with the book except for there being five children and, well, It. The book is much more funny and adorable. It grants wishes, but whatever the children wish for has a way of not coming out exactly as intended. The sequel, The Phoenix and the Carpet, has basically the same premise; the children have a carpet that grants them wishes, and will carry them anywhere they want to go. As in the first book, things almost never go as planned. I thought book two was not nearly as funny as book one, although I did get one good, two-chapter-long chuckle over the entire scene with the cats. The third book, The Story of the Amulet, changes premise a bit. Instead of wishes, the children are able to travel to any place in any time in history as they search for the missing half of an amulet. Low on humor, this book is more of an adventure romp that reminded me of a cross between the Narnia books and the Series of Unfortunate Events, minus any real bad guys. Book three is full of ancient religions, invoking the names of gods, etc. It also, for the first time, involves grown-ups, although none who actually give the children any supervision. The children are fairly well-behaved, have a code of honor, will not steal even when they find piles of gold coins because they must belong to someone, do their best not to tell lies, and, on occasion, use their wishes and the amulet to find ways to help others all without coming across as stuffy or boring. While the material is suitable for younger readers, keep a dictionary on hand there are a lot of big words, especially in the third book.

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