Perrywinkle and the Book of Magic Spells (Dial Easy-To-Read)

A seven-year-old boy, with the help of his talking crow, learns to be a wizard like his father.

Grade 1-3 Perrywinkle has a few problems with his magic until his father, the Great Wizard, gives him The Book of Magic Spells . But Perrywinkle's few problems become many when he opens the book. A crowd of creepy creatures emerge from his top hat in place of bunnies; when his teacher asks him to spell "waterfall," the chalkboard begins to leak, spewing water all over the teacher and classroom. The magicking-gone-wrong and funny metamorphoses will work their own spell on beginning readers, but not until they've sorted out a few inexcusably confusing bitsabrupt shifts from dialogue to action which will have them checking for a skipped page. The logic becomes clear upon continued reading, but the humor and cleverness would be more immediate with a smoother text. Zimmer's full-color creatures and funny characterizations are some of his best, adding comedy and clarity. Kids will love it, especially with a preliminary reading aloud to demystify the language's sleight of hand.
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