The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Ashman, Linda

Maxwell's Magic Mix-Up

32 pp. | Simon | May, 2001 | Trade ISBN 0-689-83178-1 $$16.00

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Regan Dunnick. "Party starts. Magician enters. / Hocus pocus! What a shock! / Stumbles through his incantation... / Turns Louise into a rock." As Maxwell the Magician miscasts one spell after another at Louise's birthday party, her brother offers a rollicking, play-by-play description of the ensuing pandemonium. The fast-paced, rhyming text is well matched by the illustrations, featuring wide-eyed characters with large, potato-shaped heads.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2001