Maxwell’s Magic Mix-Up

Written by Linda Ashman, Illustrated by Regan Dunnick
Simon & Schuster, 2001. 978-0689831782.

Reviews & Honors

The Center for Children’s Books Best Books of 2001

“Frothy fun.” —Publishers Weekly

“Ashman’s quatrains . . . superbly accelerate the action. A funny read-aloud for any collection.” —School Library Journal

“[A] riotous adventure.” —Horn Book Magazine

“The humorous tale, told in rhyming verse, will entertain its readers.” —Children’s Literature

“The playful, rhyming text and cartoon-style illustrations capture the farce of a party out of control.” —Booklist

“Use this for a birthday-party readaloud or for a silly celebration any day.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

About this Story

It’s my sister’s seventh birthday.
Entertainer calls in sick.
Poor Louise is brokenhearted.
Better find a back-up quick!

Call the ghost, the clown, the dragon.
Call the circus and the zoo.
Only Maxwell the Magician
Isn’t booked today at two.

Party starts. Magician enters.
Hocus Pocus! What a shock!
Stumbles through his incantation . . .
Turns Louise into a rock!

When I was a kid, our birthday parties usually consisted of a few games, a few presents, and some cake. That was pretty much it. As a new mom, it came as quite a shock to me to see how much birthday parties have changed. Now Jackson gets invited to very elaborate, catered events with clowns and magicians and superheroes and dinosaurs and reptile zoos. This is serious business. Which of course made me wonder what would happen if one of these entertainers flubbed big time. Enter Maxwell.

I laughed out loud when I saw Regan Dunnick’s sketches for this book. I love the sense of panic and pandemonium he conveys as Maxwell gets increasingly befuddled, and especially love the spread where the birthday rock sits quietly, surrounded by utter chaos.