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Magical Mischief (2000)

by Anna Dale(Favorite Author)

3.31 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1408800438 (ISBN13: 9781408800430)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

review 1: Marvelous little story about a dusty old bookshop that harbors enough magic to wreak havoc and drive away customers. The owner and his unlikely sidekicks must find a new home for the magic, but in the meantime many adventures ensue - including the always fun scenario of book characters coming out of the books to hang around and steal things. Reminded me a bit of Edward Eager and some other magical stories I remember reading as a kid.
review 2: When I read the description of this book it sounded like it would be a really fun and interesting story to read. Mr. Hardbattle has been losing customers from his bookstore because, to put it bluntly, the place stinks. When he does some investigating to determine the cause, he finds out that it is all due to magic. H... moree further learns that the way to get rid of the magic is to thoroughly dust and clean his store. With such a big heart and compassionate nature, he simply can't bring himself to do that. Rather than do so, he allows the magic to stay, even though sometimes it gets completely out of hand and leaves a mess that takes hours to clean up.The story includes several very interesting characters in addition to Mr. Hardbattle. These include Arthur, Miss Quint, Susan (a girl who gets wished out of a book), Scallywag (Mr. Hardbattle's dog) and Trunk, a stuffed elephant left behind by a customer. Although I enjoyed most of the characters, I don't agree at all with the book description of Miss Quint wherein it calls her "lovable." Without giving away too many details I will say that I found her to be anything but lovable. In fact I felt that her actions were a poor example of how an adult should act. Rather than take responsibility and owning up to her actions, she repeatedly lies and makes up stories in order to keep from getting in trouble.If you're looking for a fun, enjoyable escape into the world of fantasy, mixed with a little bit of mystery, then this may be just the book for you. Geared toward the 9-12 year old readers, I believe that it will appeal to both boys and girls alike. At 194 pages it's a quick read (I finished it in just two to three days). The book didn't turn out all like I expected it to and therefore, I came away with less than the WOW! I was hoping for. The other disappointment I felt when I was finished came from the fact that the story seemed to just end abruptly as if the author was either a) assuming that you know how it ends, or b) is leaving it open for a sequel. Either way I feel cheated. less

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