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By: Lori Calabrese,
on 5/13/2008
Maxwell's Magic Mix-Up
Ages 4-8
Everything's gone awry at Louise's birthday party thanks to an inexperienced magician named Maxwell. The rhyming text is a fun read as certain guests are magically transformed into other objects and animals. After Maxwell causes the mess, his nephew steps in to clean up the chaos. The cartoons add to Maxwell's magical mistakes in wonderful watercolor-and-pen drawings.
By: Kelly Robertson,
on 11/14/2007
Middle schoolers studying slavery and the Underground Railroad or just looking for a solid coming-of-age fiction adventure will be glad they picked up Christopher Paul Curtis’ newest gem Elijah of Buxton.
Set in 1860, Elijah of Buxton is the story of eleven-year-old Elijah who goes from “fra-gile” to “growed-up” in the settlement of Buxton, Canada. Teachers will appreciate Curtis’ tremendous historical research of Buxton and its original settlers’ lives and may be pleased as I was that the Author’s Note provides more background on Buxton’s history.
Young and old will take away the very formidable message of how ultimately every person in Buxton has some relationship to a past of slavery and how it is “something inside so strong that it flies forever.” High-spirited and humorous, engaging and important, Curtis once again makes the grade.
Here's a list of companion MS novels which complement Elijah of Buxton.
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