The Magician's Hat

by Malcolm Mitchell, Joanne Lew-Vriethoff (Illustrator)

Overview

A magician introduces children to the fantastical powers of books in this delightful and encouraging read by a Super Bowl champion and literacy crusader.

This is not your typical afternoon at the library—a magician invites kids to reach into his hat to pull out whatever they find when they dig down deep. Soon—poof!—each child comes away with something better than they could’ve imagined—a book that helps them become whatever they want to be, and makes their dreams come true through pages and words, and the adventures that follow. But each child can’t help but wonder, What’s really making the magic happen?

Praise for The Magician’s Hat

“Malcolm Mitchell is changing the world through the power of reading.” —Dav Pilkey, bestselling creator of the Dog Man and Captain Underpants series

“The Magician’s Hat will cast its spell on you!” —Jeff Kinney, bestselling author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series

“New England Patriot and literacy advocate Mitchell proves to have a touch of magic as an author as well as on the field . . . Perhaps youngsters who think they are more interested in football than reading will take the message to heart.” —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338276978
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/17/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	57 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

MALCOLM MITCHELL is the rookie who helped the New England Patriots win Super Bowl LI. He’s also the founder of an initiative called Read with Malcolm, which introduces book ownership to students, and works to improve literacy in schools. Malcolm’s Share the Magic Foundation promotes the benefits of reading to kids in underserved communities. As the New England Patriots Summer Reading Ambassador, he encourages summer reading. Malcolm lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Joanne Lew-Vriethoff is the acclaimed illustrator of many picture books, including Beautiful by Stacy McAnulty, named among School Library Journal's 2016 Books with a Message. She is a Mom's Choice Gold Award medal winner whose illustrations can be found in The Dancing Pancake by Eileen Spinelli and Peace, Baby! by Linda Ashman. Joanne also is the illustrator of the Hilde Cracks the Case series by Hilde Lysiak. She lives in Amsterdam with her husband and two children.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Magician's Hat:

"Malcolm Mitchell is changing the world through the power of reading." — Dav Pilkey

"the Magician's Hat will cast its spell on you!" — Jeff Kinney

From the Publisher

01/01/2018
PreS-Gr 2—New England Patriots wide receiver Mitchell has written a serviceable paean to reading as a means of making your (career) dreams come true. Suitably cheerful cartoon illustrations show a diverse group of children and families at a magic show at the library, with psychic reader's advisory as the grand finale. One by one, children from the audience reach into the magician's top hat for books, each of which is somehow about that child's dream career, thus proving that "books are magic." The lanky white magician even convinces a skeptical kid who claims to want to be a dog when he grows up: deep down the boy wants to be an astronaut, so the magic hat gives him a book about space. There are missed opportunities to promote the joy of reading for its own sake, as well as to encourage perseverance when reading does not feel like magic. Nevertheless, the amusing story encourages children to see the library as a fun place and to see books as a source of inspiration and support for their passions. VERDICT A good-natured addition, if a bit simplistic about the benefits of reading.—Sarah Stone, San Francisco Public Library

School Library Journal

2017-11-13
New England Patriot and literacy advocate Mitchell proves to have a touch of magic as an author as well as on the field.It's Family Fun Day at the library, and families of many sizes, constellations, and skin tones are participating. Amid book scavenger hunts and storytelling, a magician arrives. He is white and lanky, sporting a purple polka-dot vest and a bright yellow ascot. But most importantly, he has a very large, mysterious hat. He tells the children how he came to Family Fun Day when he was younger and read his very first book about magic in the library. Turning the pages and getting lost in the words inspired him to become a magician. He realized that it wasn't just about spells and potions, but that books themselves are magical. Three children reach into the hat and find books about their future professions—Amy, a white girl, is a dentist; Matt, a bespectacled black boy, is a football player; and Ryan, a white boy, is an astronaut. The magician then turns the hat to readers, asking, "What are your dreams?" Previously self-published, the work gets a new look from Lew-Vriethoff's bustling library and bright swirls of magic and bookish motivation. As an entry in the books-are-awesome genre, it's mostly distinguished by the author's clear belief in his message.Perhaps youngsters who think they are more interested in football than reading will take the message to heart. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews