Fablehaven was written by Brandon Mull and first published in 2006. It is the first in a series about an ecological preserve for magical creatures. In the novel, middle-school-aged siblings Kendra and Seth take a trip to their grandparents’ land in rural Connecticut, which they soon realize is hiding magic of all types. The siblings explore the magical world they have discovered while learning how to be both brave and responsible.

Fablehaven deals with themes concerning the importance of rules, the subjectivity of perception and experience, and the importance of place. It explores these themes through the symbols and motifs of confinement, magical creatures, and the magical forest. The novel also contains elements of magical realism.

This guide references the 2006 hardcover edition.

Plot Summary

Kendra and Seth, 13 and 11, respectively, are dropped off at their grandparents’ sprawling estate in rural Connecticut. Their parents are going on a cruise with several other family members, and children are not invited. Kendra dreads being left alone with virtual strangers for three weeks, and though Seth resents having to leave town as well, he welcomes the opportunity for adventure and troublemaking. Grandpa Sorenson, Kendra and Seth’s maternal grandfather and the caretaker of Fablehaven, lays out the rules when they first arrive. Chief among them is a warning not to go into the woods because of the danger of ticks and Lyme disease. The siblings also meet Lena, the mysterious housekeeper, and Dale, the reserved groundskeeper. They also meet Goldilocks, a “pet chicken.”

Kendra and Seth explore the sprawling gardens surrounding the huge old house after getting settled into their room in the attic. Grandpa Sorenson gifts Kendra three tiny keys and tells her that each one unlocks something in the attic. The siblings are mystified when the plentiful flying bugs that inhabit the garden become obsessed with a small hand mirror that Kendra brings outside. As Kendra busies herself looking for the keyholes, Seth goes to explore the woods. Shortly thereafter, Kendra sees Dale place a platter of milk behind a hedge.

Seth explores the woods against his grandfather’s wishes. He happens upon a shack with a grizzled old woman living inside. She is preoccupied with a rope bearing two large knots, but she still tries to lure Seth inside. Spooked, Seth flees the woods. Back in the yard, Seth tells Kendra about the woman in the woods.

Kendra gets to know Lena, the housekeeper. Seth convinces Kendra to follow him into the woods, and he shows her a lush park with a pond and an island in the center that has been hidden away. The two are amazed, but when they return, Grandpa Sorenson reveals that he knows they were in the woods. He admits that the woods are dangerous because he keeps dangerous endangered creatures on his property, and Kendra and Seth argue him down to a lesser punishment because he wasn’t completely honest with them.

While confined in their room as punishment the next day, Kendra completes Grandpa Sorenson’s puzzle with the keys, finding a blank notebook with the phrase “drink the milk” hidden on one page. She gets Seth to try the milk she saw Dale set out, and when he reveals that it allows him to see fairies in the yard instead of bugs, she drinks some as well. When Grandpa Sorenson finds out, he tells them about Fablehaven. He explains that now that they can see the magical creatures, they’ll need to be careful not to interfere with any of them; doing so would open the children up to magical retribution.

Kendra discovers that Lena was a naiad who left her pond after falling in love with a mortal man. Maddox, a traveling fairy salesman, pays Fablehaven a visit. From him, the children learn about the Society of the Evening Star, an evil organization that seeks to overthrow preserves to strengthen their dark magic. The next day, Seth successfully traps a fairy in a jar, unbeknownst to anyone else. He stores her in a dresser drawer, despite her terrified protestations.

In the morning, Seth discovers that the fairy has transformed into an evil imp. In his attempts to change her back, he ends up accidentally freeing her. Later, Seth is attacked by fairies who shoot spells at him until he becomes a hideous chimerical beast. Grandpa Sorenson has no choice but to take him to the woman in the woods, who is a witch named Muriel who has been imprisoned by her knots as punishment for meddling with dark magic. Grandpa Sorenson loosens one of her knots to get her to revert Seth to his human form. This leaves her with only one knot left.

Kendra talks more with Lena. She tells Kendra about Midsummer Eve, one of four nights a year where the magical creatures are allowed to run wild. She promises Kendra that they will be safe in the house. Dale introduces Seth to Hugo, a golem who does heavy work on the farm.

Midsummer Eve begins early, confirming the adults’ fears that this one will be particularly chaotic. Though he has been repeatedly warned not to, Seth looks out the window to see what is happening. He is tricked into opening the window by demons disguised as a crying baby and hungry wolves. Though Dale drives the creatures out of the attic, the evil creatures have free reign over the house the rest of the night. Kendra and Seth remain safe with Goldilocks the chicken.

The next day, Seth blames himself as they find the house trashed, Dale turned into a statue, and Grandpa and Lena missing. The two try to steal stew from what appears to be a magical well but turns out to be an ogress’s chimney. She chases them off, and the siblings are narrowly saved by a pair of satyrs who refuse to help when they realize the danger that Grandpa Sorenson is in.

Seth and Kendra investigate the gigantic barn that they have also been banned from and discover a gigantic magical cow with her udders painfully full. The children work together to milk her. When Seth and Kendra return to the house, they find that Goldilocks the chicken has spelled out a message in corn: “IM GRAM.” The two reluctantly decide that they must free Muriel to restore their grandmother and find their grandfather.

Grandma Sorenson, back in human form, takes the children to Nero, a cliff troll with a seeing stone. After passing a challenge to gain access to his cave and bargaining a massage in exchange for the use of his seeing stone, the group finds out that Grandpa Sorenson is being kept in the basement of a place called the Forgotten Chapel.

Grandma Sorenson tells the children more about the preserve as they prepare to find Grandpa Sorenson. She reveals that a demon named Bahumat is imprisoned in the Forgotten Chapel and that Muriel might be trying to free him. After convincing her to let them come along, Grandma Sorenson arms herself and Seth with magical weapons but leaves Kendra unarmed since she is still protected by the treaty of mutual respect.

Grandma Sorenson, Kendra, and Seth find Grandpa Sorenson and Lena in the basement of the Forgotten Chapel. They attack while Muriel is at work freeing Bahumat but are quickly overpowered by Muriel’s small army of human-sized imps. Grandma Sorenson and Seth are captured, and Kendra flees at Grandpa Sorenson’s behest since none of the dark creatures can touch her.

Running through the woods, a terrified Kendra devises a plan to ask for help at the Fairy Queen’s shrine on the island at the center of the naiad lake. She makes it safely to the island because of her pure intentions and lack of mischievous deeds. After hearing her plea, the Fairy Queen’s shrine presents Kendra with a small bowl of tears and tells her to add blood and milk. Kendra does, and as the fairies in the yard drink the mixture, they are transformed into human-sized fairy warriors ready to be commanded by Kendra. She leads them back to the Forgotten Chapel.

Muriel has all but completely freed Bahumat by the time Kendra and the fairies return to the Forgotten Chapel. The fairies make quick work of Muriel and her imp cronies, kissing each imp to return it to its fairy form, imprisoning both Muriel and Bahumat, and replacing the chapel with a lush fruit orchard. The fairies save everyone, though they return Lena to the lake rather than to the house. Back at the house, each fairy kisses Kendra before returning to human form, bestowing her with mysterious gifts.

After recovering from Midsummer Eve, Kendra no longer has to drink the milk to be able to see magical creatures. She returns to the lake to say goodbye to Lena, who doesn’t seem to recognize her. Kendra and Seth’s parents return to take them home, and both children know that they will treasure this chaotic trip in their memories—at least until they return to the preserve in a future novel.