This is bar none, the best book of all time. I've given away dozens of copies, and have read it aloud to all sorts of people. I've never met anyone who wasn't shouting for more every time I paused to catch a breath. It was out of print for many years, and I spent Big Bucks to get a collector's copy. It's finally been reprinted, and is a must read book.
The Silver Crown by Robert C. O'Brien (ISBN: 0689841116)
Note - There are several books with the same title. The others stink. This is the one you want.
Every chapter is a masterpiece, and you can get the kids to agree to do anything "if you'll just read a little bit more."
A girl named Ellen wakes up in bed on her birthday, and finds a magical silver crown in her pocket. The plot twists a hundred times before the end, and nothing is what it seems. The book might be a bit too scary for preschoolers, who might be scared of the "sudden orphan" archetype, and they definitely wouldn't understand the mind control stuff. (this sounds whacked, but the book is amazing)
Because there is no German translation for this book, I read it aloud in English, one sentence at a time, waited for my cousin to translate the sentence into German, and then read another sentence. She and her parents (all adults) were utterly wrapped up in the spell from this book. Obviously, or we wouldn't have gone to all the trouble to translate.
Even if you have to forego a bead, buy this book. That's how confident I am that you'll love it.
Kathy N-V