The Power of Five (W.I.T.C.H., Book 1)

Great condition and great series!

When I ordered this, I was under the impression that it was a comic book, since several of the pages in the preview were comic strips. I thought that was awesome, since I'm a long-time fan of the comics. I've been wanting to read them again.However, when I got it, not only was it not a comic book, but the book literally fell apart in my hands when I opened it. Several of the pages have already fallen out and I only got it an hour ago. I am extremely disappointed in this product.

Perhaps the original manga (graphic novel) format published in Europe was better. I haven't seen it, so I couldn't say. But we bought the first two volumes of this American edition for my 9 year old daughter a couple of months ago. She found the chapter book parts a little difficult to read, so I read through the first one to see if I might like to read it to her instead. (I read a lot of "kid's" books, so I do have a basis of comparison.) I have to say I thought it was poorly written and not something I would enjoy reading to her at all. In particular, the way several of the girls treat each other made me cringe. (Maybe it's realistic these days for girls to make each other do embarrassing and dangerous things like ask boys they don't even know for dates, just because they've gotten bad grades on a test, but it wasn't anything I wanted to read to my daughter.) I bought a couple of volumes of the CardCaptor Sakura manga for my daughter instead, and she's happy. For those looking for a good graphic novel, I'd recommend that manga series, or Magic Knight Rayearth, Sailor Moon, or Wedding Peach. Slightly older readers might like Nausicaa, Fushigi Yuugi, or Mai the Psychic Girl. All of these have great characters, interesting plots, and good art. Or, if one wants to read a fantasy book with great female characters that's actually well written, I'd recommend pretty much anything by Tamora Pierce, Diana Wynne Jones, or Diane Duane's "Young Wizards" series. Or, looking back in history a bit, Anne McCaffrey's "Harper Hall" books, which were my favorites as a young teen.

This book is about five girls who discover they have magical powers that are linked, for the most part, with the elements fire, water, air, and earth. Will and Taranee have only recently moved into town and are still trying to make friends (in fact, the start of the book is Will's first day in town and the school). They soon are befriended by Irma, Cornelia, and Hay Lin. In this book, the group mostly seems to worry about what to wear to the big party at school and what the guys they like think of them, but I imagine that the later books will go more detail about the characters who'd like to stop them from saving the universe with their powers. I'm also interested in finding out more about Elyon, a friend of the group's who's left out of all the powers stuff.Unlike some of the reviewers of this book, I have not seen this in the original comic form. This book does have comic inserts at the beginning and the end, which I actually liked a bit better than the book itself. The comic insert at the end overlaps a bit with some of the events at the end of the book, which made it clear that the author wasn't very good at depicting the magical parts with words. Also, I, like another reviewer, wasn't happy with the way the girls treated Elyon. Teasing, I can see, I really can't believe that any real friends would have tried to punish her for not getting a good grade. As far as the writing style goes, I thought that the constant point of view switching was very confusing. Each chapter was written from the perspective of one of over six characters. I do think that the story has promise, however, and there are a few characters who I'm looking forward to seeing more of. Although this isn't really a bad book, it's not all that good either.

I think this book should have specified if it was a graphic novel, or an "actual" book. I bought it, but it turns out it was the wrong one! I was a little upset, but it actually isn't that bad. The book came in great condition, however my mom was a bit upset that it was wrapped in newspaper. Like I said the book comes in very nice condition. I think it is a very reasonable price for a book too. So, if you're thinking about buying it, feel free to because you won't regret it!

Good books for fairy kids.

good quality

I borrowed this from the library not knowing what to expect. I found it to be very interesting. While one woman provides all the voices, which sometimes is confusing, if you re-listen and follow the story closely, you will figure out who's talking when.The story is about five girls - Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin - who are given magical powers by the Oracle of Candracar. They are Guardians destined to be the protectors of Earth. Their mission is to prevent the evil monsters of Metamoor from invading Earth.Fantasy fans will love it! The print books and this audiobook are much better than the animated series. However, when the comic portion at the end is read, the listener only hears the dialogue and sound effects, and has no clue as to who is speaking. Although this is supposed to be unabridged, the final page is not read. Therefore Elyon's silent presence in the final scene is unknown to the listener.I still say check it out!