Mixed-up Magic
by Joanna Cole (Author)
True
Kelley (Illustrator)
Pre-School through Grade 2 Tatterdemalion Maggie, who lives by
herself, discovers an elf in her garden. The elf brags that he is a great
wish-giver and can give her a new coat. But ``Oat, toat, Here's a coat!'' only
produces a goat, a boat, and finally a moat. Her wish for a hat brings instead
a cat, a bat, a mat, and a rat. And her sock wish produces a box, two docks, and
some rocks. When the elf and Maggie set about cleaning up all this mess, she
discovers that although she didn't get her wishes, she got what she really
wanted a friend. The controlled vocabulary sound of the story matches the black
ink and pastel water color illustrations so often found in bas al texts.
However, beginning readers will be satisfied that Maggie eventually does get
what she needs by asking the elf for a float, a pat, and an ox, all of which he
turns into the desired clothing. You just have to know how to tinker with these
elves to make them work right. Susan Hepler, Windsor Public Library, Conn.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment