Polly Diamond and the Magic Spell
by Alice Kuipers; Illustrated by Diana Toledano
Chronicle Books (May 1, 2018)
Fiction * Fantasy & Magic
Audience: Ages 6 to 9
Indiebound | WorldCat
Description from GoodReads:
Polly loves words. And she loves writing stories. So when a magic book appears on her doorstep that can make everything she writes happen in real life, Polly is certain all of her dreams are about to come true. But she soon learns that what you write and what you mean are not always the same thing! Funny and touching, this new chapter book series will entertain readers and inspire budding writers.
Quick thoughts on the book:
It is always fun to discover a new book that introduces young readers to a new series. The newest character that will entertain students is Polly Diamond. Polly loves books, and writing, and spelling. She has a younger sister Anna and a new baby on the way. And since amazing things happen in threes, Polly gets a surprise on the third day. With a drumroll and trumpet, a package arrives for Polly. In the package, is a "writing and spelling for Polly Diamond".
It doesn't take long for Polly to learn that her new Writing and Spelling book is more than it appears to be. It is truly a magical book that can make what you write actually happen. I was curious how this would play out. When writers include magic in a book, there needs to be rules. But wait don't rules ruin all the fun? Well, actually no. What really ruins a book is if magic just fixes things or saves the day without the main character doing anything. This can be a particular challenge in a shorter book especially one written for beginning readers.
Kuipers does a nice job of allowing Polly to have some fun with magic (painting her room like an ocean filled with fish, or turning her sister into a banana) but also understanding that not everything you ask for is what you really want. Young readers that are moving from early readers to beginning chapter books will enjoy this new series.
Look for Polly Diamond and the Magic Spell at your local indie bookstore or your community bookstore.
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