The Magic Pencil

What has time travel, dinosaurs, rockets and explosions and policemen you can't trust? The magic pencil! It's an action packed adventure that is all the more impressive when you discover the author was a mere 10 years old when he wrote it, something I am still marveling over! It's written by a child for children with an authentic voice. Young readers will be hanging on every word and dreaming of having their own magic pencil. Personally I found it lacking in descriptive detail, but that is something younger readers won't notice, they will be drawn in by the fast plot, twists and turns that make this book one that will be handed on to friends as a 'must read'.

The quirky illustrations by Robert Spies (Ben's dad) perfectly compliment the story as do the large and varied font for the onomatopoeia – splat, hsssssssssss and the aaarrrggghhs! They break up the text perfectly and will appeal to the reader. 'The magic pencil' is a book I'd be promoting to reluctant readers, there is a lot of dialogue, making it easy to follow and I think merely mentioning the author's age will have them intrigued, I was!

I wouldn't hesitate recommending this book to it's target audience of 8-12.

You can buy this book here.

Title: The Magic Pencil

Author(s): Ben Spies

Illustrator: Robert Spies

Translator:

Publisher: Spies Publishing

ISBN: 978-0-473-37777-9

RRP:

Format: Softcover

Date of publication: June 2017

Ages: 8-12

Reviewer's name: Louana McCormack

Reviewer's Job title: Librarian

Reviewer's School Name: Opaheke School

Highly recommended