The Magician's Boy

Title: The Magician's Boy
Author: Susan Cooper
Illustrator: Serena Riglietti
ISBN: 1-4169-1555-9
Format: Chapter Book-Fiction
Pages: 101 pgs.

Review: All kids have heard many fairy tales growing up. Stories such as Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Three Little Pigs, The Old Lady Who Lived in the Shoe, and many others that narrate our childhoods. This book includes all of these tales and adds a new twist to one in particular, Saint George and the Dragon. This is the tale of Boy (whose real name we do not learn until the end), and his job as helper to the great town magician. He longs to learn magic, but the magician tells him to be patient because he is not ready yet. One of Boy's jobs is to perform the puppet show for birthday parties. The puppets are characters from the tale of Saint George and the Dragon. He must perform it for a very special birthday party coming up, so to prepare he makes sure everything is clean. Well on the day of the party as he is getting ready to put on the show, he cannot find the puppet of Saint George. The magician gets upset and somehow transports Boy into a fairytale land where he seeks help from Pinocchio, Jack and his Giant, Little Red Riding Hood and her Wolf, the old lady and her children that live in a shoe. No one is able to help until he asks some birds to see which areas of the forest have been recently burned. He does this so he can trail the dragon and then hopefully it will lead him to Saint George. He finds the dragon and also learns and interesting fact at the end which I should not give away. The book is very positive and overall sends the message that we must be patient and life will provide opportunities for us. This book is definitely geared towards the younger tween audience. It is appropriate for those who are interested in magic and fairy tales, but may not be able to read independently enough for something like Harry Potter or The Chronicles of Narnia, but it is written in a very similar fashion. The language is basic and the plot unfolds quickly. You meet a lot of characters you already know which makes this book really fun to read. Again, this is more appropriate for a younger tween such as 8-10 years old, but can easily be enjoyed by and older child as well.