Customer Reviews

The Wandmaker's Guidebook

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a fun gift for a young Harry Potter or Wizardology fan. My 7 year old is enjoying the book immensely. Some parents might be worried about a "pagan" plaything like a wand, but most kids will simply have fun with the kit and learn a little something along the way. Although the "information" in the book is fictional, this is quite an erudite book, and parents who want their children to know something of world history may find this book a great starting point. I particularly enjoyed the reference to the "High Council of Aratta", and gave my son a lecture on Aratta in Sumerian literature, which he listened to with more patience that usual....

Most kids, brought up on a steady diet of cheap paperbacks, are also quite enchanted with beautiful books like this one, and the -ology books.

Even though I'm an elementary school librarian, I can't review this book any better than my young (10 year old) friend did after I gave it to him as a birthday present.

"Thank you for the Wandmaker's Guide Book!!! My friends and I have really enjoyed looking at the pictures and reading the captions. I've also really enjoyed reading the whole page at night. I have a friend who is also into magic. He has a book just like mine but it is about dragons. Since you have given me the book, he and I have really been linked to each other. Every day we eat lunch together and after school we get our books and study in my fort. Thanks again!

P.S. Next time I see you tell me where you got the book.

P.S.S. Also, remind me to give you a big thank you next time I see you."

I looked through this book at my daughter's school book fair and decided in no time that it was definitely a keeper. The book is in the "tradition" of the -Ology books (Wizardology, Dragonology, etc.) with its paper foldouts, inset artifacts, and lavish illustrations. What I like most about it is that it approaches the topic of personal connectedness to the Earth. The section "Harnessing the Energy of Nature" provides a wonderful foldout of the constellations, discusses the phases of the moon and animal totems, and details the properties of certain crystals. Because I am trying to incorporate more pagan elements into my family traditions, I thought this was a great way to reinforce some of these things with my 8yo daughter. Something on her level, that appeals to her sense of fun and imagination.

The book also includes a wand which my daughter is particularly keen to start using. Of course, she knows wands aren't exactly playthings, but it does serve nonetheless to sharpen her enthusiasm for digging into the book. Also, I'm rather pleased that the book includes some "ego busters" so to speak -- counsel on "getting fancy" with the wand or thinking that one is all-powerful, etc. Wands do not confer power, and the one who wields a wand should be humble (and smart) enough to know that.

We haven't finished the book yet, but I am very pleased with what I've found so far. Definitely one for the permanent library.

This is such an awesome book. With many little flaps, envelopes and fold out pages on wands and wizardry. I especially love that they give you your own wand and little stuff to put with the wand to make it as "magical" as you want.

I bought this for my eight-year-old son for Christmas. He has enjoyed all of the "ology" books such as Egyptology, Dragonology etc. This was pretty much the first gift he wanted to explore on Christmas morning. He enjoyed reading it, and then creating his personalized wand. It kept his interest for quite some time. Glad I got it; it's a great addition to the collection

My son begged for this book, which I thought would be a waste of money. I argued that we could find a wand on Ebay-- thinking that was the only reason he wanted the book. However, he studied every page like he was going to be tested on it later! Every little envelope or flap that opened inside the book was fascinating to him, and he carried it everywhere he went. I'm using the past tense when I write this, because the wand was screwed into the base too tightly and the base cracked and broke. The book is up on a shelf, waiting for me to find a replacement wand. The list price on this is almost $20, which makes me think they could have used better materials. The feathers are the bright primary colored kind you get for a buck in the craft aisle at Wal-Mart, and the "crystals" are little colored balls of glass in clear, brown and black. How hard would it have been to have added a dozen tiny little tumbled rocks that are actual crystals (rose quartz, lapis, etc.)? They're available on Ebay also-- for anyone who wants to upgrade their kid's wand kit. Despite the low-quality materials, the book itself is a really cool read for a kid who's into the subject. I'm always looking for something that inspires my kids to READ a book, not just flip through and look at pictures. After I replace the feathers with natural looking ones, the glass rocks with real stones, and the wand with one that's sturdier, it'll be a five star item.

The book is one in a series that has kept up the tradition of providing excellent information in an attention getting format easily accessible to children. My son was so thrilled at the idea of making his own wand we had to buy 2 copies (one for home and one for the Grandparent's house).

The whole series of "ology" books, such as Wizardology, which The Wandmaker Guidebook is just one, is a marvelous idea. I am by no means a child anymore but am fascinated by children's and young adult books. Whoever came up with the concepts of such books is a literal genius...they are so much fun to read and explore as each page has some little hidden treasure to find....And with The Wandmaker, one even gets their own wand! No need to go to Diagon Alley to Ollivander's!

I purchased this book for my 10 year old daughter for Xmas. After opening the book, I was mesmerized myself! This book seem so real for me, I can imagine what great things it would do for children! My daughter has probably gone through the book at least 5 times in 2 weeks. Definitely recommend for children 9+ who enjoy reading about fantasy, history, medieval times.

This book flies off of my shelf at school. My students like to read the main text as well as the "hidden" texts in various places. Of all of the books of this kind, this is the one that my students prefer to look at.