Walter's Magic Wand [Hardcover]

Eric Houghton (Author), Denise Teasdale (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1990 | Age Level: 3 and up

Feeling restless at the library, Walter combines his imagination with his magic wand to bring several exotic books to life and complicate the librarian's tidy existence.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-- A peaceful afternoon at the library turns into a war when Walter, made restless by the continual demands imposed by the librarian ("Please don't poke . . . meddle . . . touch"), unleashes the power of his magic wand to call out the forces of chaos from three books about tigers, pirates, and oceans. The quick-thinking librarian, who remains true to her overly fastidious nature, proves a formidable foe as she encounters and prevails over every terror Walter unleashes. Discouraged, and convinced the wand didn't really create magic, Walter throws it away--only to have the smiling librarian, with seaweed from the pirates ' onslaught caught in her collar, return it to him--"But that magic wand of yours is much too good to throw away!" Teasdale's watercolor and ink drawings are appropriately cartoonike and frenzied, adding just the right note of disorder to an imaginative story that children will find empowering; librarians should be pleased to have the adventurous aspect of their characters win out over the finicky. --Ellen Fader, Westport Public Library, CT
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 26 pages
• Publisher: Orchard Books (March 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531058514
• ISBN-13: 978-0531058510
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful, imaginative tale, March 22, 2004

By 

Shannon "jfaction" (Lafayette, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walter's Magic Wand (Hardcover)

C.S. Lewis said, "If a book is not worth reading at 50, it's not worth reading at 10." This is one of those books. Some children's books are not fun to read aloud to your kids, but this one was enjoyable for me as well as my children (7, 5, and 2). Not many can entertain all three. Walter creates a magic wand out of a stick, and uses it at the library to unlease a few wild creatures. There's a nice twist at the end in that an adult character in the book encourages imaginative play. The book is nicely illustrated and strikes a good balance - not so long that the parent is tired from reading, and long enough to entertain the kids.