CM Magazine: The Boy With the Sweet-Treat Touch. (Race Ahead with Reading).

________________ CM . . . . Volume XXI Number 32. . . .April 24, 2015

cover
The Boy With the Sweet-Treat Touch. (Race Ahead with Reading).

Laura North. Illustrated by Neil Chapman.
St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2015.
32 pp., pbk., hc., pdf & html, $10.95 (pbk.), $21.56 (RLB.).
ISBN 978-0-7787-1364-7 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-1461-3 (RLB.), ISBN 978-1-4271-7782-7 (pdf), ISBN 978-1-4271-7770-4 (html).

Subject Headings:
Birthdays-Fiction.
Wishes-Fiction.
Magic-Fiction.
Desserts-Fiction.
Greed-Fiction.

Kindergarten-grade 3 / Ages 5-8.

Review by Inderjit Deogun.

*** /4

excerpt:

"I hate broccoli!" shouted Jack.

"I wish that I only had to eat treats. I wish that everything I touched could turn into a treat!" Jack grabbed his broccoli and threw it onto the table in a tantrum.

Before his parents could lecture him about being so greedy and badly behaved, something magical happened. ZAP! Suddenly his broccoli disappeared. In its place was a huge cream cake. It was covered in pink icing and raspberries. He quickly stuffed the creamy wonder into his mouth until it was all gone.

Tomorrow is Jack�s ninth birthday. As he watches his dad make a special cake, Jack grabs a huge slice and stuffs it in his mouth. Jack is immediately sent to his room where he comes upon a gold coin with the following words: �Touch me and your next wish will come true.� And, of course, Jack makes a wish: �I wish that everything I touched could turn into a treat!�

Illustrated by Neil Chapman, The Boy with the Sweet-Treat Touch is a �Race Ahead with Reading� chapter book. Thirty-one pages in length, this chapter book is accompanied by illustrations that are not only bright but also fun. Though a few are over-the-top, they don�t take away from the story but match Jack�s personality perfectly.

The Boy with the Sweet-Treat Touch teaches children to be careful what they wish for, a lesson author Laura North allows Jack to learn on his own. With a relatable plot, easy-to-handle vocabulary and discussion questions at the end, North has thought of everything.

Recommended.

Inderjit Deogun is a communications professional in Toronto, ON.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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