Lawn Mower Magic

by Lynne Jonell, Brandon Dorman (Illustrator)

Overview

With a POP! and a puff of smoke, the Willows' lawn mower calls it quits. A new mower will cost their parents a lot of money, money Derek had hoped to borrow for a train ticket to visit a friend. Luckily Derek and his brother and sisters find a rusty push mower tucked away in the shed. It doesn't look like much, but it turns out that it's been soaking up magic for years. And it's hungry for grass!

Can Derek earn his ticket? Maybe . . . if he, Abner, Tate, and Celia can keep the magic mower under control!

Lynne Jonell follows up her Junior Library Guild selection, Hamster Magic, with a second story of the Willow family's rowdy run-ins with mixed-up magic.

A Bank Street Children's Book of the Year

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375896736
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	02/28/2012
Series:	Magical Mix-Ups: A Stepping Stone Book (TM) , #2
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	112
Sales rank:	729,526
Lexile:	550L (what's this?)
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

In addition to her first book about the Willow family, Hamster Magic, which was both a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award for Young People's Literature, LYNNE JONELL is the author of the popular book Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat, a Booklist Editor's Choice, and one of School Library Journal's Best Books of the Year. She has also written three other novels and seven picture books. Lynne is not particularly fond of mowing, but then again, she's never been lucky enough to have a magic mower.

BRANDON DORMAN has created hundreds of illustrations for books and magazines, including the cover art for the Newbery Honor Book Savvy. He loves string cheese and sunflower seeds, and once licked a slug. He lives in Puyallup, Washington, with his wife and two rambunctious sons.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 2–4—The Willow family has recently moved to a house in the country, and the four siblings are still adjusting to life away from their old neighborhood and not feeling at home. Derek misses his friends, and, when he receives an invitation to visit them for a week, he's excited. However, the family's lawn mower breaks and, because of their financial situation, he doesn't feel that he can ask his parents for money for a train ticket. As in Hamster Magic (Random, 2010), magic comes into play. When the children discover a rusty old lawn mower in the shed and Celia throws grass at it, it seems to come to life. The youngsters get more than they bargain for when it takes on a life of its own. This beginning chapter book is simple and appealing, and the camaraderie among the four siblings is a positive element. The black-and-white illustrations, some full page, enhance the humor.—Tina Martin, Arlington Heights Memorial Library, IL

School Library Journal

The four Willow children attempt to tame an old-fashioned reel lawn mower with an enormous appetite for grass. The family's move to the country has been expensive, and money is tight. When the power mower dies, it seems that buying a new one will take precedence over buying a train ticket for Derek to go visit his old friends. Abner, Tate and Celia are fine siblings. Although they don't want to play the games he likes, they're willing to help their brother by using an old mower they found in the shed. The four of them, plus Celia's stuffed rabbit, make a great team. Taking turns and then working together, they hang on desperately, steering the mower as it gobbles up the green and stopping it before it does too much damage to the vegetable garden or farmer Wopter's alfalfa field. Short chapters and plentiful black-and-white illustrations (not seen), plus the suspense that comes with the realization that "Mowey" is out of control, will carry new readers along. This traditional family adventure provides a touch of magic and the satisfying sense that kids on their own can accomplish something. Second in a promising series that began with Hamster Magic (2010) this is a good stepping stone to more challenging reading. (Fantasy. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews