A delightful book!

Wouldn't everyone want a magic book? One that......(no spoilers)



Polly loves words and writing and imagining things.
When she receives a magic book, what an adventure ensues!

A very cute and fun read.

Mentioned in a blog post at https://booksbeyondbinaries.blog/2020/07/20/chapter-books-whats-good/ (July 20th release)

So cute! My daughter loved it very much!

Juvenile Fiction
2018

This is a cute book, more likely something a child/patron/student would read if they were on the higher level of the primary K-2 reading level. This fits the Juvenile Fiction category because it does have chapters, a few pictures on each page, and the words are starting to increase both in complexity and quantity.

This book borders on the family theme - it focuses quite a bit on Polly Diamond - the main character. However, there is a case to be made that it can be included in the family theme as I hope to demonstrate.

I chose the book because I liked the idea of the main character having a magic book and I wanted to learn more about that. I thought this might also interest younger patrons as the book has special abilities - such as changing the world around you - with limits.

We are introduced to Polly on the very first page and we can tell she is very imaginative. She swears her pet rock smiled at her! She discusses how her house is too small and crowded - though her parents call it cozy. She has one younger sibling, Anna, and her mother is pregnant and due any day with a new baby brother. On this particular day, a package is dropped off for her, a notebook in her favorite color. When she starts to write in it, she realizes that it is responding to her with writing of its own.
Chapter Two introduces us to Polly's mother, shown as quite pregnant, her younger sister, and her father. Polly's father is white and her mother is of another nationality (they don't discuss this aspect, but it is is suggested in the illustrations). Which also makes this book culturally generic. While Polly is excited by the prospect of a new sibling (she writes lists of what she thinks the new baby's name should be), she is annoyed by the fact that she will now have to share a room with her much younger little sister. She also makes lists of how to keep Anna, her sister, out of her room. My favorite reason was to tell her it's haunted. When we are introduced to her father, we find that he has lots of little nicknames for Polly and seems to be rather pleasant. When he asks Polly to make breakfast and she uses different ingredients than listed, he is very patient and suggests different ways of going about making breakfast.

Through all of this, Polly starts writing more in her book. She asks the book to paint her room aquarium blue and when she comes back, her walls look like a literal aquarium with real fish swimming. At this point, her father gets the call that new baby Diamond is on the way. Polly is left to really see what the book holds for her. When she gets annoyed with her sister - she turns her into a banana. She even turns herself invisible. Later, she decides to try to make the house bigger. It is so cramped and with the new brother on the way, she feels they need to have a larger house. The book complies, adding all different kinds of rooms. These include - a room for Anna who loves tutus, pink, and sparkles - also if she has her own room, she won't have to share with Polly. Many books for the entire family. A room with games where they can play together as a family and a special room for the new baby. She is constantly thinking of her family, even when they are not around. The house goes through quite a few changes, but by the end of the book, Polly thinks that the way the house looked originally is just the way it should be. She asks the book to change the house back. Once it's basically intact - the babysitter gets the call that Polly and Anna have a new baby brother. Anna and Polly set out to make big welcome signs for Finn and they draw a picture with him in the middle.

This is a cute, diverse, fun-to-read story. I enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to younger patrons looking for a new series. ( )