The Wizard

by Jack Prelutsky

Book Overview

The wizard, watchful, waits alone within his tower of cold gray stone and ponders in his wicked way what evil deeds he'll do this day. What do you think the wizard is planning to do? Conjure a magic spell? Turn a frog into a flea? Fill a cauldron with bubbling brew? You may think you know . . . but watch out. Because if the wizard is bored, he may come looking for you

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061240761
• ISBN13: 9780061240768
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 11.0" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Wizard

A wonderful book for up to about 8 years old. The book rhymes, which all children love, and the illustrations are phenomenal! Highly recommend!

A full-flavored, fun story

A watchful wizard waits alone within his tower and ponders evil in Jack Prelutsky's THE WIZARD. What's he planning on doing? A flea, a bird, and others fall victim to his evil changes - but there's a surprise in store. Brandon Dorman's fine and colorful full-page drawings are powerful accompaniments to a full-flavored, fun story very different from your usual wizard or fantasy tale - and easy to read.

The Wiz

It seems like such an obvious notion that I'm more than a little shocked that other publishers haven't dived into the idea first. Step One: Locate a book of children's poetry. Say, Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep, by Jack Prelutsky (circa 1976). Step Two: Say to the author of the poetry (if that person still happens to be alive, of course), "Gee whiz. Wouldn't it be great if we made that old poem of yours, `The Wizard', into its own picture book?" Acquire permission to do so. Step Three: Find an up-and-coming illustrator. Someone you've worked with before who you're fairly certain will end up the Next Big Thing. Step Four: Observe your clever idea hitting the New York Times bestseller list and smile at how logical and easy this entire process was. Is this simplifying things a bit? Yup. But when I saw "The Wizard" by Jack Prelutsky in its full glory I realized just how ripe the market is for this kind of poetry picture book. Douglas Florian and various Shel Silverstein heirs may wish to consider the advantages to this kind of artistry. Add in current Greenwillow baby Brandon Dorman and you've got yourself a book that's primed to win more than a few fans ASAP. From the benign fellow on the cover you might think that this was a cheery tale of your average everyday wizardy fellow. Not so. As we learn right from the start, "The wizard, watchful, waits alone / within his tower of cold gray stone / and ponders in his wicked way / what evil deeds he'll do this day." Down below sits a happy little cluster of houses, while up in the nearby tower the wizard turns his attention to a frog. He changes it into a pair of mice, a cockatoo, a small cockatoo, chalk, a silver bell, and then finally a frog again. Then, just when the poor thing is about to escape, the frog is at last turned into a cloud of thick smoke. Now fully amused, the wizard takes note of the kids down below and we are warned, "Should you encounter a toad or a lizard / look closely ... it may be the work of a wizard." A telltale chameleon sitting on a skateboard suggests as much. We're at the point right now where CGI needs to figure out where it wants to go. Is there any reason to create art on a computer when it just ends up looking like paint on a canvas? Maybe so, if the result is as natural and enticing as that of Brandon Dorman. I seriously doubt that anyone who picked up this book on a whim would leap to the conclusion that it was done entirely digitally. Indeed, there's been a lot of care taken with these images. The two-page spread I was particularly fond of involved the moment when the Wizard changed a cockatoo into a section of chalk. A rainbow-swirled piece sits neatly on some stone as the old man's cracked and blackened fingernails delicately reach to pick it up. Taking into consideration Dorman's eye for light, textures, and details, this is wizardry of an entirely different sort. Dorman's Wizard is an odd fellow. Prelutsky makes it prett

Toadally cool wizard

I don't know what book the other person read but this book is not about a wizard turning kids into toads. The wizard takes a toad and turns him into other things. All the author says in the end is the next time you see a toad or lizard look carefully you never know what you might see. The wizard does change the poor toad into many things but he eventually turns him back into a toad. Besides it is by Jack Prelutsky. The art work by Brandon Dorman is just beautiful. Barb - Ohio