Children of the Red King

Children of the Red King is a series of ten children's fantasy, school and adventure novels written by British author Jenny Nimmo, first published by Egmont 2002 to 2010. It is sometimes called "the Charlie Bone series" after its main character. A series of five books was announced in advance, completed in 2006, and sometimes the books were called the "Red King Quintet" until its continuation.

A prequel trilogy, Chronicles of the Red King, has been published, which tells the story of the Red King.

Two follow up books, Henry and the Guardians of the Lost and Gabriel and the Phantom Sleepers, were written a few years after the prequel trilogy.

Children of the Red King comprises ten novels. All were first published by Egmont Books and the first 8 with cover art by David Wyatt. The first two were released in paperback editions, the following 6 were released in hardcover.

In the United States, the books were released with the following titles (variants shown by bold type):

In the first novel, 10-year-old Charlie Bone discovers that he has a special power. After accidentally encountering a photograph of a missing baby, Charlie begins to hear the voices of people in photographs. He discovers that he is a descendant of the Red King, who was an ancient magician. Many of the Red King's descendants are endowed with magical powers. His cruel and uncaring Grandmother Bone and her three evil sisters send him to Bloor's Academy, where many endowed children study. With the help of a mysterious man named Mr. Onimous and his magical cats, Charlie returns the photograph of the missing baby to its rightful owner, a bookstore owner named Julia Ingledew. Julia asks Charlie to find her missing Emma, who was traded for a mysterious briefcase by her brother-in-law. Emma, now 10, is kept at Bloor's Academy and trapped under hypnosis by an endowed student, Manfred Bloor. With the help of Charlie's friend Benjamin and the loyal dog Runner Bean, as well as some of his family members, Charlie rescues Emma and discovers that his father is still alive, but also hypnotised by Manfred.

In 1916, Charlie's great-great-uncle, Henry Yewbeam, is tricked into looking into the Time Twister while staying with his jealous cousin, Ezekiel Bloor. The Time Twister takes Henry from 1916 to the present day without ageing him. Charlie, at Bloor's Academy, witnesses his appearance and takes him to Mr. Pilgrim's room. However, the dog Blessed also sees this, and tells Billy Raven, an orphan who can communicate with animals and is acting as a spy for Ezekiel in return for the chance to be adopted. Ezekiel orders Billy to bring Henry to him. At midnight, Charlie goes down to the kitchens to find Cook, but comes across Henry directly. Henry says that he had met a "small lady in black", who had given him tea and sweets. It turns out the lady in black is Manfred Bloor's mother, who is cursed and can never leave the castle. Together they devise a plan: Henry will go in one of the canteen's freezers until the temperature is the same as winter in 1916, then look at the Time Twister and be transported back; Charlie will keep checking that he's still breathing. However, when they put their plan into action, the freezer door freezes shut. Hearing Charlie shout out, Cook comes running, and manages to heave the door open, revealing Henry who has turned blue and fainted of hypothermia. They take him back to Cook's top-secret quarters, where the Flames help revive him. Charlie then returns to his dormitory, with the help of a magical torch that Cook gives him which shows up details that aren't usually visible. Cook threatens Blessed not to tell Billy about her secret home or Henry. On his return to his dormitory, Charlie finds Billy, who has apparently just been bribed with cocoa. Charlie and his friends devise a plan to help Manfred's mother. She escapes through the Time Twister, while Charlie and Uncle Paton take Henry to live with his younger brother (and Paton's father), James, by the sea.

Paton Yewbeam goes on a secret mission to stop a terrible danger. Meanwhile, Grizelda Bone and her three sisters introduce Charlie to a pretty girl named Belle Donner who will go to Bloor's. At school the group finds out about an invisible boy named Ollie Sparks, who has been put in his condition by an ancient blue snake with feathers. They also find out that Mr. Boldova, an art teacher, is actually Ollie's brother, who is trying to save him. The group finds out that Belle is really Yolanda Yewbeam, who is a shape-shifter, and Charlie's great-great-great aunt. She hypnotises Mr. Boldova into leaving the school and Paton returns gravely ill. Charlie decides to visit Skarpo, but things don't go according to plan and Skarpo and his mouse escape. Luckily Cook finds Skarpo terrified of the present day, and Charlie agrees to return him home to his painting if Skarpo can help heal Paton.