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  • The Magic Word

The Magic Word

Author
Illustrator
Elise Parsley
Publication Date
October 20, 2016
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction /  K − 1st
Language
English
The Magic Word
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Description

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...

Publication date
October 20, 2016
Genre
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780062354846
Lexile Measure
480
Publisher
Balzer & Bray/Harperteen
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV051000 - Juvenile Fiction | Imagination & Play
JUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
JUV009080 - Juvenile Fiction | Concepts | Words
Library of Congress categories
Animals
Magic
Vocabulary

Publishers Weekly

"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.
Mac Barnett
Mac Barnett is the author of several books for children, including Caldecott Honor Books Extra Yarn and Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, both illustrated by Jon Klassen; President Taft Is Stuck in the Bath, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen; Leo: A Ghost Story, illustrated by Christian Robinson; and the Terrible Two series, cowritten with Jory John and illustrated by Kevin Cornell. Mac Barnett lives in California.

Isabelle Arsenault is the creator of Alpha and the illustrator of several other picture books, including Jane, the Fox, and Me by Fanny Britt, a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year; Captain Rosalie by Timothée de Fombelle; and Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois by Amy Novesky. Isabelle Arsenault lives in Montreal.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
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