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A hilarious take on what a magic word really is from Mac Barnett, the award-winning, bestselling author of Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and Extra Yarn, and Elise Parsley, the bestselling author/illustrator of If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't! and If You Ever Want to Bring a Piano to the Beach, Don't!
When Paxton C. Heymeyer's babysitter tells him to say the magic word, she could never have imagined that what would happen next would be a walrus chasing her, an elephant in the living room playing cards, and a full water park and moat in the front yard.
And that's just the beginning...
"What's the magic word?" It's a cloying reminder about good manners from the powers that be. One night, Barnett's bratty hero, Paxton C. Heymeyer, makes an important discovery: by saying "alakazoomba" instead of "please," he can bypass the middleman and magically get whatever he wants. Naturally, Paxton's wishes escalate fast: first a cookie, then a walrus that chases his babysitter to the North Pole, then an amusement park to replace his house. But Paxton soon comes to realize that having an elephant that knows how knows how to play "Go Fish" doesn't mean much if the people you care about aren't around. Barnett's (Rules of the House) narration hits all the right wry notes ("Paxton wasn't going to stand there and be insulted in his very own house, let alone his very own castle with a helipad and pink-lemonade moat"), while Parsley's (If You Ever Want to Bring a Piano to the Beach, Don't!) expressive, exaggerated drawings give the story the tight narrative arc, visual breeziness, and snappy comic rhythms of an 11-minute animated cartoon. Ages 4-8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)
Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.