Maxie Wiz and the Magic Charms

by Michelle Meadows, Sawyer Cloud (Illustrator)

Overview

A rollicking, rhyming, enchanted adventure featuring a young wizard in training in this easy Step 1 Reader.

HOCUS-POCUS! Maxie Wiz has magic homework! She must collect all the charms in her magic spell for it to work. Will she be able to follow the steps and rev up her magic wand?

Follow this little wizard and her dragon on a whimsical treasure hunt. Predictable rhymes help support a successful reading experience, while bright, lively art brings this delightful story to life.

Step 1 Readers feature big type and easy words. Rhymes and rhythmic text paired with picture clues help children decode the story. For children who know the alphabet and are eager to begin reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593571361
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	09/05/2023
Series:	Step into Reading Book Series: A Step 1 Book
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	645,604
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.10(d)
Lexile:	390L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 6 Years

About the Author

MICHELLE MEADOWS is the author of many acclaimed books for children. She loves dreaming up new projects and telling stories with heart. Connection, compassion, and family are common themes in her work. With a passion for storytelling, Michelle graduated from Syracuse University with a dual degree in journalism and literature. Michelle grew up in Washington D.C. and now lives near the beach in Delaware with her husband.

SAWYER CLOUD is a self-taught freelance artist living in Madagascar, her native country. Sawyer loves sunny days and music. If not drawing, she is singing out loud in her room, wearing her favorite fairy costume and sharing that moment with her online friends. She lives on her island with her family and her two pets, Arya the dog and Potter the cat.

Editorial Reviews

09/01/2023

Gr 1–3—Maxie, a dark-skinned wizard, is ready to start her homework for magic class. She must find five charms, then follow the directions to cast a sparkly spell. She and her friend Dragon gather the charms, but when she attempts the spell, it falls flat. Discouraged, but persevering, she rereads the directions, finds her mistake, and tries again. With a hocus-pocus and a whirl of her wand, she finds glittery success! This Level 1 reader aligns with beginning reader best practices of a simple story, few words/lines per page, large font, and a wide variety of letter sounds/blends, but ends up more like a Level 2 reader due to little repetition and word lengths as in "homework" and "double-check." The narrative starts with a confusing first line: "Magic homework." Is the homework magic, or is the homework for a magic class? This may lead beginning readers to initial difficulty in following the story, but excellent context clues will get them back on track in short order. VERDICT Appropriate, but not glittering. Recommend to Level 2 readers.—Kate Davis

School Library Journal