Magical Max and Magical Mickey's Big Surprise

I've reviewed several books in Penelope Anne Cole's series about kids in a family who have magical abilities when they're little, but lose them when they get older.

In this book, twins Max and Mickey plan to use their magic to create a surprise.

Their older brother and sister, Matt and Mea, and Lily, their friend who uses a wheelchair, will all be graduating on the same day.  (Those characters were featured in Cole's earlier books.)

Everyone in the family is preparing graduation gifts and trying to keep their gifts secret.

On graduation day all the gifts are revealed, but none are as amazing as the one Max and Mickey have created.

I won't reveal any of the secrets here, because I don't want to spoil the reading experience, but I will say I loved the climax.

But Max and Mickey are about to loose their magic, so this book is probably the last one in the series and I'm sorry to see it end.

I'll miss the colorful illustrations by Kevin Scott Collier, too.

Magical Max and Magical Mickey’s Big Surprise

I've reviewed other books in this series before. All of them are about kids in a family who have magical powers in early childhoods, but loose them as they grow older. I'm afraid Magical Max and Magical Mickey's Big Surprise will be the last one in the series.

As anyone who reads my posts regularly knows I care a lot about Special Needs and I especially like the fact that one of the characters in the series, Lily, uses a wheelchair.

In this story main characters in the earlier books, Mea and Matt, as well as their neighbor Lily, have grown up and will be graduating on the same day. Everyone is busy making and hiding secret graduation gifts for them.

Twins Max and Mickey know their magic will disappear soon, but they're trying to create the best gift of all.

It really is a wonderful gift, but I won't spoil the story by telling you what it is.

As usual, Kevin Scott Collier did a good job illustrating the book.

I'm sorry to see this series by Penelope Anne Cole come to an end, and hope to see other books by her in the future.

What's For Dinner?

I've read several books by Penelope Anne Cole, but this one is different from the others.

It's apparently based on real events her daughter, Katy, experienced since the main character has that name. And, judging by her photo, Samantha Bell made the illustrations of the girl's mother resemble the author.

The story is about Katy's invitation to have dinner with a friend from Nigeria. Katy wonders what kind of food she'll have to eat.  Will it be something gross?

The book mentions foods from many different cultures, and at the end the main course served by the host family is quite a surprise.

What's For Dinner? is both fun and educational. At the end it includes some recipes and links to help readers learn more about the foods in various countries.

And I believe this book will do something I think is very important: help kids learn to accept people who are different.

Magical Max and Magical Mickey

Penelope Anne Cole has written another cute book in her Magical series.

Since Magical Matt and Magical Mea had outgrown their powers, it seemed like the series was over.

Then, to their surprise, their mother has identical twin baby boys. Will the babies also have magic powers?

Readers must wait several chapters to find out, but, of course the title of the book lets us know Max and Mickey do get their powers eventually.

It's fun to see their older brother and sister and other characters from previous books in the series again, and to experience Max and Mickey's first use of their powers to help someone.

I hope there will be more books about them in the future.

As usual Cole has written a story kids will enjoy, and Kevin Scott Collier did a good job on the illustrations.

Magical Matthew

Penelope Anne Cole has written a book based on a creative concept. Magical Matthew is about a boy who has a magic power, but it's unlike any magical power I've ever heard of before. He can fix broken things by simply wishing them whole.

One thing Matthew can't fix is his friend, Lily, who uses a wheelchair because she can't walk. But that doesn't keep them from being friends, and Lily eventually learns about Matthew's secret power.

Unfortunately something happens to destroy Matthew's magic. His friendship with Lily lasts and he realizes he may be able to fix things without using magic, but that's not the happy ending of the book. I don't want to spoil it, so you'll have to read the book to find out what that is.

The colorful illustrations by Kevin Collier capture the cheerful mood of the story perfectly and lots of kids will enjoy reading Magical Matthew or having it read to them. Maybe some of them will even be inspired to find ways to help others.