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sirg1006 · Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:50 am Post subject: Wizards - Christopher Rawson

The Usbourne Book of Wizards was like a little piece of magic when I was little. Perhaps it was the stories about wizards and potions that made it so mysterious so it was a book I would read all the time and never tire of. From the cover showing a border of wizards, bottles and the act of magic it gave a stereotypical look of what a wizard looks like. The main centre picture is of a wizard with a pointy hat, flowing white beard, moustache and hair surrounded by a big magic book, books on shelves and chemistry type equipment.

Written by Christopher Rawson and illustrated by Stephen Cartwright the first page of the book has the contents page… I have actually scored through the page numbers… I must have been working my way through it! There are only 7 chapters and 32 pages so this isn’t going to be challenging. The font is also quite large so very easily read. The picture on this page is of a wizard with a pot in one hand and a lid in the other with a yellow genie… nothing like the genie in Disney’s Aladdin though.

The book’s chapters are of 6 very short stories and the last chapter being a little game. Like most books you can’t delve into a subject without finding out some background information. The first story is “All Sorts of Wizards”. With only three or four lines of text divided up to go with each picture the story is very easy to follow. If a parent was reading it to a child the child can look at the picture while the parent reads the text. The first story has humour – it tells that there are good and bad wizards and that sometimes they play tricks on people.

The pictures corresponding to the text are very accurate. They work in a kind of cartoon strip so it looks as though there are only one or two wizards being talked about which helps as it doesn’t confuse. The pictures are not done with hard lines but are extremely colourful. Where many books tend to focus on characters, this one includes backgrounds such as ground and sky in vibrant tones.

“The Man with the Lump on his Nose” is also quite funny but you have to give some sympathy to the main character – the man with the spot. He visits the wizard to get a cure but the result was quite unexpected. This story teaches that the instructions should be read carefully or it can go wrong.

“Zog, the Wizard’s Helper” is a bit longer than the previous two stories covering four pages again with lots of pictures. Zog is a Wizard’s Helper who does get things wrong. The Wizard tells him not to touch the potions but obvious events mean he does and gets it wrong. It does have a funny result and teaches that when you are told not to do something, don’t do it! The pictures in this story are all pretty much the same – blue or purple which makes it seem a little more boring compared to previous more colourful ones.

“The Miser’s Christmas” is a bit like A Christmas Carol with a host of orphans and one man that refuses to smile or help the kids out when they have no money. These were quite bad orphans but the result was a happy ending. Lasting 6 pages it seems quite dark to begin with, with the Miser dressed in black and dark settings but it soon brightens up. Considering the orphans should be happy at the end of the story the all seem to have straight faces in the picture.

“The Wizard and the Robber Baron” also lasting 6 pages is another dark story. It begins with the Baron robbing the Wizard but when he gets free he and his goblin go to a castle where a King and Queen live. The Baron had also robbed them and wanted to get rich so linking back to the first story, they play a trick on him. The story does have a happy ending.

“The Gold Hunters” is a rather sad story beginning with the death of a Viking King and a picture of him being buried with his treasure. A gnome was ordered to stand guard and a hill was built over the grave. Like the first picture I described in this book it involves a genie… this time a green one called Botto. They try to find the treasure and the story even hints that they may still be there today… ooh!

The last two pages of the book is a short game involving a trapped lady on a stone, lots of red and white bridges and a knight on another stone. The aim is to cross from one side to the other by crossing a red bridge then a white and never two of the same colour one after the other. It’s quite easy when trying it now but my book is covered with pencil marks trying to work out the route.

Priced on the back at £2.50 this may seem a little expensive but I know it was really worth while for me. The book actually describes how this book will encourage children to read – “superbly imaginative illustrations are deliberately detailed and numerous so that reading will be made easier”. This book was published in 1980 (before my time) so I probably didn’t get it until the early 90’s from my Primary School book club. This will suit kids aged around 6 with parents reading the story to them and gradually getting the confidence up to read it themselves. The text is not challenging for adults either so if asked what something means it can easily be explained. Highly recommended.

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I'm an auntie! Kelvin

Tigerlily · Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:31 am Post subject:

What a brill review!

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Reading: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Reading Challenge 2009: 8
2008: 4
2007: 10

sirg1006 · Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:46 pm Post subject:

Was copying reviews onto Helium and saw a couple of kids books so thought they'd help

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I'm an auntie! Kelvin

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