Customer Reviews

Hatching Magic

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The book Hatching Magic, by Ann Downer, is about a wizard, Gideon, from thirteenth century England who looses his wyvern, Wycca, through a bolt-hole to a different Where and When and ends up following her to twenty-first century Boston, Massachusetts. A girl, Theodora Oglethorpe, who suddenly finds his wyvern trump card on the bottom of her shoe, but if it falls into the hands of Gideon's half brother, Kobold, Kobold will gain more power and try to get his revenge on Gideon. Wycca, who's hatchling is about to come out of her shell, is also having trouble finding a nice comfortable place to hide her nest from the new world. As Gideon explores the new world he is introduced to Professor Iain Merlin O'Shea who works at Harvard University. Merlin, as he is called in the book, shows Gideon all the new technology of the twenty-first century. With the help of some magic and friends Gideon gets his card back and returns to thirteenth century England with Wycca and Theodora has an exciting summer and gets to actually touch a real, live wyvern. This book is interesting and adventurous with action. I'd recommend this to someone who likes fantasies and magic.

This book is interesting because the author makes the book seem real like it could happen. The book is also interesting because the details of different characters are so perfect and that the author doesn't say that the animal is a dragon, the author says it's a wyvern and that's what gets me thinking that it's real. It's also interesting how the author tells the reader how Gideon is seeing things in the new world. When the author is talking about him she'll explain what things he finds new to him how he sees it. The author does that with every character. The names in this book are interesting too, like Gideon, Wycca, Kobold, Febrys, and Oglethorpe. The first four names mentioned are from medieval times it seems like, and Oglethorpe is an outrageous name I've never heard of.

This book is adventurous because once Theodora finds the wyvern trump card everything gets put into place and everyone's trying to get something from the other. Febrys, the demon serving for Kobold, acts as a human woman in public who has foot problems. She also can go into someone's body and act as that person, and just like Gideon, although, they are from thirteenth century England. At the end of the story Gideon and Kobold are fighting for the wyvern trump card and they yell spells at each other trying to kill each other for the card. It's also adventurous when Theodora's trying to take care of the baby wyvern because Wycca had fallen in flight with the baby and were separated. Febrys was in Mikko, the caretaker for the Oglethorpe household, so Theodora was noticing differences like when Mikko made the omelet of eggshells and anchovy dip with dish detergent apple juice. Theodora had to try and feed the wyvern but it every time she did it threw up on her.

Also this book has some action at the end where Kobold and Gideon were fighting with spells. Kobold made Gideon sink into a hole in the floor of the Oglethorpe household. Then Gideon said a spell that created Kobold's coat into live moles that itched really badly. Then Kobold made Ouroboros, Gideon's trusted snake into an anaconda to suffocate Gideon which cracked one of his rib bones. Then Gideon yelled a spell which created bees all over Kobold's face. What topped it off though was Kobold's banned spell that produced a ghost of Gwenylyn, Gideon's love when he was sixteen.

This book is recommended to people who like fantasy and magic because it's a story of a wyvern and a wizard that go through a bolt-hole through time to a century 800 years later. People will like the interesting and adventurous parts finally because it's a story about magic, wyverns, demons, and wizards that makes anything adventurous.

T. Shepard

My (...) daughter is a big fan of Harry Potter, and usually won't let me read anything to her because she prefers HP instead. This book has broken through that block. We're half way, and I find the book delightful.

Each character is interesting. The predicaments they get into are humorous and bizarre - I never know what to expect next. We live in a suburb of Boston and much of the book is set in places we know - it's so much fun! Imagine a small dragon- like creature in the NECCO wafer factory! Imagine that dragon "negotiating" with the peregrine falcons! It's that kind of detail that leaves me laughing with pleasure.

This book is full of adventure, magic, and excitement. You never know what is going to come next. An evil pair, a good pair, two dragons, and two girls. What will happen to them? Read the book and find out!

P.S. I think this surpasses Harry Potter -- and that's saying something!!

JB, age 8

This book gave me a look at magic in a completely different way than before. Hatching magic is a wonderful book that it is hard not to read it over again when you're done.

If you love the mysteries and wonder of magic you'll love this book. The setting is mainly in present day Boston, but begins in the 15th century with a wizard, Gideon. Gideon's dragon, Wycca, goes through a bolt hole into the present day Boston, in search of a place to lay her egg. Follow Gideon on a magical adventure to find his dragon, and her baby, before his enemy does, and turns his beloved Wycca against him. With a little help from a dragon-loving girl,Theodora, the books different characters bring the story to an end. This book has a wonderful ending in a battle between good and evil with a little catch about a magical deck of cards.

Hatching Magic is a fantasy book by Ann Downer. This book will take you in and make you not want to put it down, but there is no illustrator. The interesting thing about this book is that it has four perspectives switching each chapter until they come together and clash.

This book is about a wizard in the 14th century when his Wyrein a powerful animal escapes and now his evil brother Kobold, Is after his Wyrein after it goes through a time portal to the future in the 24th century. To lay her egg and the wizards loses the card that controls the Wyrein. A little girl walking down the street saw that she had a card stuck to her shoe which starts this magical adventure.

The author Ann Downer really gives you a big idea, like as "I walked into the room I saw blotches of colors dripping on to the floor in all different kinds". It really puts a picture in your mind.

I think this book is great for kids who love magic. I think this book is for 4-6 graders. I also suggest the Harry Potter series and Eragon, but I think that is for 5-8 graders because of violence.

This book includes the phrase, "...that her father put in her stocking every Christmas". It is a seventh grade level book (according to Accelerated Reader/Renaissance Learning), but if you have a younger child who wants to read this book, you might want to wait a few years.

My 8 year old son loves this book! He hasn't been able to put it down and keeps trying to convince me that I need to read it too. He has about 20 pages left and is very sad that it will be done soon.

Hatching Magic was definitely one of my favorite books of all time. I liked the book because of mostly one reason. The main character was one of the best that I have ever read about. Her name was Theodora, and I think that I would not have liked this book at all if she was not in the book. She made the whole book worthwhile. At the beginning of the book, her father was going on a trip by himself, and she was not allowed to go. "Dodo" was left behind with her sitter, Mikko, and that is what started one of the best summer vacations of her life. She was a strong, and awesome character. She was also brave, I don't think that I would have survived a summer of wizards, mythical creatures, and magic on my own. I say again, without Theodora, this book would be terrible. Most people would have liked this book mostly because of the wizard, Gideon, But I think that Gideon was one of the characters that I could ignore. When the story came to a part that included Gideon, but not Theodora, I could not wait until the next chapter so that I could get the story of my favorite character in the book.

Theodora feels she is old enough to go with her father on his summer research assignment; however, once again she is left at home with her nanny, Mikko. What makes this time even worse than the others is the fact that her friends have all left for the summer, and Theodora has yet to collect the cards to get her into the Wyvernkeeper's Circle. But then Theodora finds a wyvern trump stuck to the bottom of her shoe, and Theodora's summer changes drastically.

In another time and another realm, Gideon is searching for Wycca, his pet wyvern. Much to his chagrin, he realizes that the pregnant Wycca has disappeared through a bolt-hole to another where and when. Gideon must enlist the help of a Harvard professor to help him find the appropriate wyvern-fetching tools in this strange where of Boston in the when of 2002. They must locate Wycca before she falls into evil hands.

Hatching Magic by Ann Downer is a great book to read in your spare time. It has magical critters and holes in time. There are a lot of really odd animals like wyverns. There are two wizards and a girl as the main characters. All three characters have trouble in this story. It starts in older times and then to a now a day's time. I read this book and I liked it because of the magic, mystery, and excitement that it has.