Customer Reviews

Possum Magic (Voyager Books)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I used this book in a high school English course on children's picture-book literature, and I must say it enchanted the older students (14-15 year olds!) Every high school library "deserves" some good quality picture books, and this would make it onto the list everywhere.

It was also used with ESL students in that school, and the quality of the story-telling, and the humour is such that those students never felt offended or that they were being given "baby books". It also helped introduce them to a little bit of Australian cultural icons (minties, lamingtons! )

In my own home it has been a firm favourite for some time and gets repeat requests for bedtime reading.

Is this book the Australian "Where The Wild Things Are"?

I read this book to a class of second graders during our unit on Australia. It was a wonderful way to review the Australian animals as well an the cities and foods of the continent. The kids loved the pictures and we took a poll asking who would try all the different foods discussed in the book. Even if you only buy this book for your own kids, it will surely prompt a discussion about other cultures, foods, etc. Well worth the cost!

Having read this beautifully illustrated and written story for over twelve years of teaching 2-5 year old children it has always been a favourite.Children sit in wonder to what might happen with Hush and Grandma poss in the story.They feel sad when at first nothing works then finally joyfull and happy with the outcome of Hush and Grandma poss adventure for a cure. Which often leads children asking me to re read it.

I bought this while in Australia. I was looking for native stories to bring back for my daughter. This book helped me share my trip with her even though she didn't get to go with me.

This book is a wonderful example of a child's wonder at new experiences. The characters go on a journey to discover the lessons of life. This story shows how you should always work on a problem until you find a suitable solution.

In" Abracadabra," Grandma Poss has changes her granddaughter, Hush, purely invisible with her Bush Magic. Hush and Grandma Poss are both cheerful and happy possums, but now Hush is totally invisible. The main reason Grandma Poss turns her invisible is now the dreaded snakes can't see her or the big koalas can't sit on her. For a long time Hush lives contented being invisible, but one day she decides she doesn't want to be invisible any longer. She wants to see what she looks like and play like a normal possum. So Hush goes to Grandma Poss and tells her she wants to be visible again. The only problem is Grandma Poss can't remember how to make Hush visible again. Will Grandma Poss remember how to make Hush visible again or will Hush have to live invisibly miserable for the rest of her life?
If you like fantasy genres and personification in your stories, you will enjoy this book. This is a cute well-written book. It has a hopeful ending to it and I really thought it had a flowing feel to it, going from one thing to another. To read this book, you have to have some sophistication and know what invisible and visible mean. Overall, this book was cute and enjoyable.

This wonderful book has surely become an Australian classic by now. We follow the story of Hush and Grandma Poss as they travel around Australia to undo some magic. The pictures of the Australian animals are magic, and simple writing means the kids will be repeating it along with you after one or two readings. This would be a great bedtime reading book for littlies and grown-ups to share.

My 12 month old loves the book & is keen to listen & look at the pictures every time I read it to him. It is fun reading it to him as well as I enjoy the reminders of my home in Australia. I am now living in America so it is a very good book to have. Mem Fox is the best & I love her style of writing - this has to be her best book ever!

I was extremely pleased to see that this book is still in print. By the looks on the dates of the reviews here, it would appear that people are aware of this book and it is still in use. This also pleases me.

Possum Magic was first published in 1983 and is one of the many things good that comes from the Land Down Under! It would be difficult to find a more charming, educational and simply fun children's book being published.

Briefly stated, this is the story of Grandma Poss creating and making some bush magic or her granddaughter Hush. She enables Hush to become invisible which is an absolute blast for the young possum; sliding down the tails of kangaroos, staying safe from snakes...all kinds of kid possum stuff. Ah, but when the fun time is over and it is time to become visible again, it seems that Grandma Poss has completely forgotten how to reverser her bush magic! She reads and rereads her books to no avail before she finally remembers that "people food" has something to do with it.

And the journey begins....

In searching for the right kind of "people food," the young and elderly possum journey around Australia sampling bits of this and tasting bites of that. Vegemite sandwiches (A food paste made from yeast extract..used normally as a condiment), Pavlova (A meringue desert), Lamington (Sponge cake) and ANZAC Biscuits (A Sweet biscuit of rolled oats), are among the unique Australian foods the two partake of. There is a tremendous amount of information concerning Australia here and it most certainly will expose the child to some very interesting words and ideas.

Will Huss regain her visibility? And if she does...how long will it last?

The jaunty rhymes, with dashes of rhyme and alliteration, make this a wonderful group read as well as a one on one.

But my, oh my...the illustrations! Julie Vivas's use of watercolor is something to behold. The illustrations simply pop from the page, are whimsical, humorous and educational...all at the same time. You could spend hours just in the study of the pictures provided here.

The author has included a very nice glossary that describes the dishes for non-Australians and a nicely done map which follows the trail as the two wonder around the country.

This work is an absolute winner folks and is ideal to use not only with small children, but as a training aid for the more advanced student interested in children's literature.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Very cute book, lovely illustrations. My kids loved this book when they were younger, so I bought it for my niece's little girl and she loves it too.

This is a superbly lovely book for pre-schoolers and children in the early grades. After seeing it in Australia, I ordered three copies, one for each set of grandkids. My grandgirls, 5 and 7, made me read it to them twice, even though they both can read most of it, and I even caught the 9-year-old eavesdropping. It is one of those books whose illustrations match the charm of the text, and both text and pix are simple, straightforward, yet colorful and delightful and totally enchanting. It's the story of how Hush, a little girl possum, is made invisible by her Grandma Poss's magic and their subsequent search to make her visible again, which they do by cycling around Australia (and sailing to Tasmania in an umbrella) and eating the various specialty foods. Just naming them will make any Ozzie homesick: pavlova, lamington, vegemite, minties, etc. Even a Yank tourist like myself gets a little misty-eyed. The only thing the author left out was Victoria Bitter, but it is a children's book, after all.