Maggie's adventures in the Enchanted Forest continue in the second book of a new chapter book series by E. D. Baker!
With each day, Maggie is finding it harder and harder to get along with her step-mother and step-siblings while her father is away. It doesn't help that every time Maggie finishes cleaning laundry, flying pigs swoop in to muddy everything up and get her into trouble! One day while she's out collecting berries and her step-brother is fishing, Maggie happens to catch a magical fish herself! The fish promises to make one of her wishes come true, but only if she frees him. Maggie wants a new family more than anything, but how much faith can she put into a talking fish?
This new, black-and-white illustrated series is perfect for fans of Princess Ponies, Magic Horses, and Critter Club.
E.D. Baker made her international debut in 2002 with The Frog Princess, which was a Texas Lone Star Reading List Book, A Book Sense Children's Pick, a Florida's Sunshine State Readers List pick & a 2006 Sasquatch Book Award nominee. The Frog Princess inspired the Disney's Princess and the Frog!
E. D. Baker was born in Buffalo, New York and spent most of the next eighteen years in the Town of Tonawanda with her older brother and her parents. She married her husband while in college, and had two children a few years after graduating from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. When her son was four, the family moved to the state of Maryland. With two young children at home, E.D. worked part time in her husband’s business and took writing classes at the local community college. She continued taking writing classes after the birth of her second daughter, but when she and her husband divorced, she went back to school and entered the SIMAT (School Immersion Masters in the Art of Teaching) program at Johns Hopkins University. After graduating, she taught fifth grade until her parents’ health began to fail. Her son had already graduated from college when E.D. and her daughters moved north to be closer to her parents. Having gained a new perspective on what is important in life, E.D. decided that it was time to believe in herself and devoted her time to writing. Her first book, The Frog Princess, was published in 2002. E.D. has written 25 books to date and has no plans to quite writing anytime soon.
Currently E. D. Baker lives on a small farm in Maryland where she and her family breed Appaloosa horses. They also have dogs, cats and goats.
If you have a question or a comment for E. D. Baker regarding her books, you can e-mail her at edbakerbooks@gmail.com and she will try very hard to reply to your e-mails. (Just keep in mind it may take a while before she responds, because she is working on a new book for you to enjoy!) For updates, announcements on upcoming books and daily posts by E.D. Baker be sure to follow her on Facebook.
A young girl with an uncanny ability to see all of the magical creatures living in the Enchanted Forest, Maggie, whose adventures began in eponymous Maggie and the Flying Horse, returns in this second chapter-book devoted to her adventures. Still not getting along with her step-family, she finds herself in trouble when flying pigs get mud on the laundry and she liberates a talking fish who promises to grant her a wish. But will Maggie's longing for a new family actually lead to something good...?
Like its predecessor, I found Maggie and the Wish Fish rather pedestrian. I couldn't seem to work up much interest in Maggie's conflict with her step-family, and her adventures with various magical creatures felt less enchanting than one might expect them to be. The text here is quite simple, but I don't put my lack of enjoyment down to that, given the pleasure I have taken in very simple texts indeed. This is one I would recommend primarily to those beginning chapter-book readers who enjoyed the first installment of the series.
My 6-year-old daughter read this book on her own. Here is her review, entirely in her words (typed in by Daddy as she reviewed it):
"I really liked it. I thought it was really cool, because it said in that book that goblins have poison blood, and if the tip of a unicorn's horn touches something with poison in its blood, the poisonous creature would vanish. For example, a goblin.
There were flying pigs in this book, too. They're super mischievous and they like to put mud on clothes and they're smarter than you think. And there is a goose that lays golden eggs in this book, but it only lays eggs for people that give it healthy food and care for it a lot. But for others, who don't care for it very much and don't give it healthy food, it just lays normal eggs.
There is a fish called a Wish Fish in this book. They come in all shapes and sizes. If you catch one of these fish, it will usually lie to you by saying it will grant you one wish if you put it back in the water. But be careful! The bigger the fish is, the bigger the liar. Most of them don't tell the truth."
Maggie and the Wish Fish is the second book in the Magic Animal Rescue series written by E.D. Baker and illustrated by Lisa Manuzak. The first book was Maggie and the Flying Horse, which I missed. However, I was quickly able to catch on to who the characters were and what was happening even without having read the first book.
With each day, Maggie is finding it harder and harder to get along with her step-mother and step-siblings while her father is away. It doesn't help that every time Maggie finishes cleaning laundry, flying pigs swoop in to muddy everything up and get her into trouble! One day while she's out collecting berries and her step-brother is fishing, Maggie happens to catch a magical fish herself! The fish promises to make one of her wishes come true, but only if she frees him. Maggie wants a new family more than anything, but how much faith can she put into a talking fish?
Maggie and the Wish Fish is a story that takes the legend of the magic fish and combines it with Maggie's Cinderella like homelife. I like that Maggie is well aware of the fairy tale creatures and echos around here- which might have been explained in the first book. I really enjoyed the matter of fact way she looked at the world, even when things were less than fair towards her. I also liked that the adults in the story, and the other kids, were neither all good or all bad. Just like in real life, there are those that will help others, and those that are only interested in themselves.
Maggie and the Wish Fish is a good transitional chapter book for fairy tale and animal lovers alike. I will admit that I have come to expect more from Baker, but I still think there are many young readers that will love this series.
Maggie lives with her mean stepmother and step-siblings. She lives in a forest full of magic animals. So she is not surprised when a fish begins to talk to her. The fish asks her to let it go, and promises to give her one wish in exchange.
Maggie can’t imagine eating a talking fish, and she releases it back into the lake. She is disappointed when the fish disappears without waiting to hear her wish. She whispers her wish anyway—to be part of a nicer family—and is sure the wish won’t come true.
When her stepmother hears that Maggie let the fish go, she declares that Maggie is no longer welcome in their house. She locks her out just as a big storm is approaching.
The Magic Animal Rescue series is a charming new chapter book series that will capture the young reader’s heart. Maggie is a darling little main character, who has a pure heart and a desire to help others. Young readers will enjoy reading about Maggie’s adventures, and will cheer when she overcomes the cruel desires of her step-family. Maggie leans on her friends at the magic animal stable—a talking horse named Leonard, and Bob, the kindly stableman with a journal full of facts about magic animals—for guidance about the magic animals and other creatures around the forest.
I received an advance reader copy of this book so that I could provide my unbiased review. My family truly enjoyed Maggie and the Wish Fish and are looking forward to future books in the Magic Animal Rescue series too!
The second title in the Magic Animal Rescue series does not disappoint. Poor Maggie accompanies her lazy step-brother to the pond. After finally catching a large fish, he charges Maggie with the task of watching over it. When the fish offers Maggie one wish if she returns her to the pond, Maggie agrees selecting her most important wish. Her step brother returns furious that she threw back the only fish he managed to catch for dinner. Her evil step mother has had enough, Maggie is banished from her home. This imaginative fantasy has all the ingredients fantasy readers love, flying pigs, talking unicorns, golden eggs, and kindness found in the most unexpected places. The easy to read font and amusing dialog of the magical animals is so entertaining. "What about my grain?" said Leonard. (a horse that's fat as a tick.) Bob sighed. "The last to eat and the first to complain. You know I'm thinking of putting you on a diet." "Never mind," said Leonard. "There's no need to get nasty." E.D. Baker shares her gift for making magic splendid and real for a younger audience, and they are thrilled. Hoping for lots of sequels for the Magic Animal Rescue series.
First, the correct title of this book is "MAGGIE and the Wish Fish". It is shown as this clearly on the cover as well as the cover page of the book. For children, it would probably help if they read the first book in the series so they know who the characters are and understand the basic setting. Adults can certainly figure this out on their own. This is a charming fantasy story which includes several talking animals in addition to a unicorn and of course, humans. Maggie can hear and communicate with these talking animals though others in her family can't and her step-mother accuses of Maggie of lying. Question: why are stepmothers so often portrayed in such a negative light? After several incidents Maggie's stepmother kicks her out of the house, though the house belongs to Maggie's father. Maggie is found and taken in by Bob, who houses some of the magic animals, and his wife. They care for Maggie and take her in permanently, a happy ending. Young, beginning readers, will find this story enchanting.
Maggie lives with her stepmother and step siblings while her father is away and she is more of a servant instead of family. After some magical creatures that only she can see cause her hard work to be undone, she is basically forced out of her home until she meets a magical fish that is supposed to grant her a wish if she lets it go free. Maggie' fondest wish is to be in a family that loves her. Will she get her wish or is the fish just playing a trick on her? Sparkly cover + Magical Creatures = A book that will be popular with the beginning chapter book reader crowd. I would recommend this book for purchase by school and public libraries needing to enhance their early chapter book collections. This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.
This didn't do much for me, but my six year old enjoyed it. Also we didn't read the first one and I definitely think there was some basic world building we missed out on, which for this age group seems like an easy fix. Does everyone know there are magical animals or just a few people? I could not figure it out.
Second book in the series sees more of the world come to life, with the same generic fantasy characteristics throughout the book. There are still unanswered questions and a good world created, entertaining, even if a little bit this has been done before.
Enchanting early chapter book. Great for fans of Daisy Meadows, Critter Club, or magic/animals/magic animals. Familiar fairy tale tropes with a fresh face and a delightful spin.