Reading is Magic: 5. Magical Creatures: Magicians vs Wizards

Magicians are different from the other creatures I've written about so far  because as  adults we would question the magic that a magician does and put it down to showmanship and sleight of hand, but young children don't think the same way, they are often convinced there is magic.

When I looked in the dictionary it said that a magician is 'one skilled in magic'; 'an entertainer who is skilled in illusion by sleight of hand and deceptive devices'.  It then lists enchanter, sorcerer, wizard, necromancer as synonyms which puzzles me because in stories their magic is not that of the entertainer or showman. Can a female be a magician? Yes, but they may be called an enchantress or a witch.

So really this word deals with two different things as far as reading and books are concerned. Firstly, the magician who does 'magic tricks', wears a top hat and pulls rabbits out of his hat.

                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                                            

Secondly there is the magicians in children's literature  who do magic like a wizard or sorcerer does. Merlin was the magician in the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Picture book versions of his stories are hard to find.

Harry Potter and Dumbledore are J.K Rowling's well known magicians. Gandalf is the magician from The Lord of the Rings.

Paul Dukas wrote the music for The Sorcerer's Apprentice  which he based on a long poem by Goethe. The poem tells of a sorcerer who can turn a broomstick into a real servant. The sorcerer's apprentice overhears the magic formula and, one day when the old man is gone, he tries it out. There are many picture book versions of this story.

Then there are all the wizards that are in children's picture books and early chapter books...who are usually fun characters, not overly wicked in any way.

Popular wizards in the library are:

Woozy (three titles by Elli Woollard)

Oliver Moon (10 titles by Sue Mongredien)

Fred (3 titles by Simon Philip)

Raymond ( Princess Minna series 6 titles)

Mr Majeika (14 titles by Humphrey Carpenter)

And often my best book discussions come at the end of The Garden of Abdul Gasazi  by Chris Van Allsburg. Was he really a magician? Why? Why not?

Bewitching in Readiness for Halloween

I am getting the library ready for Halloween. This is a time when my young students are quite excited about reading what is on display as they are busy planning their costumes and parties for Halloween. We saturate the library with witches, wizards, monsters, trolls, ghosts, goblins, ghouls, pumpkins, bats and spiders.

My Year 2 and some Year 1 students very quickly get hooked into a new series of novels that they haven't yet read. Even my Kindergarten students get very excited when they realise they can read Sally Rippin's School of Monsters books. 

I was reading a note from a teacher online about what series to recommend to this age group so here are my suggestions. Most have some pictures, some have colour, large font, are plot driven and the list is in roughly increasing reading difficulty and /or length. The number in brackets is how many titles there are currently in the series.

• Titchy Witch by Rose Impey and Katherine McEwen (12)

• Little Witch by Deborah Hautzig (6+)

• Witch in Training  by Maeve Friel (8)

• Woozy Wizard by Ella Woollard and Al Murphy (3)

• The Witch's Dog by Frank Rodgers (8)

• Heidi Hecklebeck by Wanda Coven and Priscilla Burris (witch) (30+)

• Isadora Moon by Harriet Muncaster (half vampire, half fairy) (14)

• Mirabelle by Harriet Muncaster (witch and fairy) (6+)

• Mona the Vampire  by Hiawyn Oram (5)

• Vampire School by Peter Bently (vampires) (6)

• The Haunted Library by Dori Hillestad Butler (ghosts) (10)

• Dorrie by Patricia Coombs (witch) (4+)

• Lottie Luna by Vivian French and Nathan Reed (werewolf) (4)

• The Goblin Princess by Jenny O'Connor (2)

• Wizzbag Wizard by Scoular Anderson (wizard) (3)

• Oliver Moon by Sue Mongredien (wizard) (12)

• Grunt and Grouch by Tracey Corderoy (monsters) (4)

• Undead Pets by Sam Hay (animal zombies) (8)

• Gargoylz by Janet Burchett and Sara Vogler (gargoyles, monsters) (16)

• Hubble Bubble by Tracey Corderoy (witch granny) (3pb 5cb)

• The Goblins  by David Melling (5)

• Winnie the Witch by Laura Owen (witch and her cat) (12+ and lots of picture books by Valerie Thomas)

• Rumblewick's Diary My Unwilling Witch by Hiawyn Oram (witch and her cat) (2pb 8cb)

• Araminta Spook by Angie Sage (haunted house and ghosts) (7)

• Witch Baby and Me by Debi Gliori (4)

• Polly and Buster  by Sally Rippin (witch and monster) (3)

• Amelia Fang by Laura Ellen Anderson (vampiress) (7)

• Bella Donna  by Ruth Symes (witch) (6)

• Fred Wizard by Simon Philip (3)

• An Awfully Beastly Business  by The Beastly Boys (werewolves, vampires, trolls etc)(6)

• Monstrous Maud by A.B. Saddlewick (witches and wizards)(6)

• The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy (witches, boarding school) (8)

• Diary of an Accidental Witch by Conor and Perdita Cargill(4)

• The Dragon in the Library by Luis Stowell (all the librarians are wizards) (3)

• Knitbone Pepper Ghost Dog  by Claire Barker and Ross Collins (ghost dog) (5)

• Goth Girl  by Chris Riddell (4) (spooky mysteries)

3rd October Wizards - series for beginning readers

There's nowhere near the number of wizard series as there is for witches, and what there is, is extremely light-weight by comparison, but I do have boys who will ask for a chapter book about wizards. These are the three series that I suggest they choose from:

1. Woozy the Wizard by Elli Woodward. The three titles in this series are written in rhyming text and readers who can cope with the text, like Woozy, a confused old wizard who while meaning well does some very silly things.

2. Wizzbang Wizard by Scoular Anderson. There are only two books in this series. They tell readers the story of of Freddy Frogpurse who goes to visit his Great Uncle Sneezer to learn to become a wizard.



3. Oliver Moon by Sue Mongredien. This is the most popular of the series. There are twelve titles in this series and I have children who will read them all. Oliver Moon is the hardest working wizard at Magic School, but at home he has problems dealing with his unmagical parents.


The picture books about wizards are much better, (e.g.  Little Wizard by Kazuno Kohara, The Princess and the Wizard by Julia Donaldson) but my good readers want chapter books and they really don't mind if they are formulaic or a bit 'twee'. The boys who are keen soon move onto Kate McMullan's Dragon Slayer's Academy and become engrossed in the adventures of Wiglaf.