The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers

Unbelievable Oliver #1

by Pseudonymous Bosch

From the author of the bestselling Secret Series comes this funny chapter-book mystery about a third-grade magician and the wisecracking rabbit who is the secret brains behind his act.

Eight-year-old Oliver dreams of being a professional magician, even though he has terrible stage fright. And now, his friends Teenie and Bea have gotten him invited to a classmate's birthday party as the paid entertainment! Desperate for help, he visits The Great Zoocheeni's Magic Emporium, but comes away with nothing more than a moth-eaten top hat.

Oliver is in for a lucky surprise, though. Inside that top hat hides a wisecracking rabbit named Benny, who agrees to help Oliver with his act. But at the party, Oliver is accused of robbery! He'll need to solve the mystery of the missing robo-cat to clear his name before he and Benny can amaze the crowd with their grand finale.

Genres: Mystery, Humor, Childrens, Fiction, Juvenile, Chapter Books, Magic

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 14, 2019

About the author

Pseudonymous Bosch is the infamously anonymous author of the New York Times bestselling Secret Series and the Bad Books. Despite rumors to the contrary, his books are not actually written by his pet rabbit, Quiche; the rabbit is merely his typist.

Reviews

[Cadie Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given an arc of this by the publisher. I read it to my first through third grade class and they absolutely loved it. It made us all laugh.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

8-year-old Oliver is a really bad magician with a mismatched set of cards. When he gets invited to be the birthday party of the year’s entertainment , he becomes afraid that his stage fright will get in the way. Desperate for help, he visits The Great Zoocheeni's Magic Emporium, but comes away with nothing more than a moth-eaten top hat. He soon finds a wisecracking rabbit named Benny who lives in the hat. Together, the two work together to create the perfect magic act. At the party, however, Benny gets accused of stealing a robotic cat. Can the two work together to solve the mystery and clear Oliver’s name? Will they amaze everyone with their grand finale? Humorous, delightfully engaging plot. The characters are entertaining, easy to relate to, and well developed. Full of twists and turns, this mystery will appeal to readers who have liked Bosch’s other books or who like humorous mysteries and adventures.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Oliver is the only kid not invited to a classmate's birthday party, his well-meaning friends book him as the entertainment to perform his magic tricks and show everyone how cool he really is! The only problem: Oliver has never done a trick, an illusion, or even a sleight-of-hand without failing miserably. One trip to a magic shop later and Oliver has a new, if slightly grumpy, talking rabbit companion to help him! Things escalate when Oliver blunders his way through the performance only to be accused of stealing the birthday boy's best gift! Can he solve the mystery and clear his name before his parent's are called?

Bosch steps back into the world of mystery and magic with a book aimed at early elementary readers. Much like his previous titles, this one contains plenty of humor along with a narrator that enjoys breaking the fourth wall. Jokes are heavily slapstick and great for the intended audience, especially when accompanying illustrations add punchlines or physical humor. Bosch uses easy-to-follow language, with the assistance of Pangburn's art, to also explore the process of a detective and a magician.

Unfortunately, bullying is a common theme throughout the book, but it's rarely addressed without a humorous undertone. The end, thankfully, has a grownup finally stepping in to put a stop to this negative behavior so our heroes can prevail!

The cast is wonderfully diverse and showcases a range of talents that kids can perform (whether for good or evil).

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story was unpleasant and the voices on the audiobook were annoying. The only redeeming factor was the mystery

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Oliver has plans to become a famous magician, too bad he has terrible stage fright and isn't too great at the magic part either. When his best friends get him hired for a birthday party (the most popular and biggest bully's birthday party BTW), Oliver kicks his magic act up a level. When he buys a stinky worn magician's hat at the local magic shop, he finds a talking rabbit inside. Benny, the rabbit, doesn't want to be stuck with Oliver, but they just may need to rely on each other to make it through the birthday party. Especially, when one of the birthday boy's presents goes missing and they blame Oliver. Magical skills are going to solve this mystery.

This book was completely weird, completely funny, and totally something I could see many readers enjoying. I thought it was interesting how the author weaved a magic trick into the plot line, which will certainly help budding magicians. This was a fun book and I will continue to read more in the series, if there are more.

[D'Anne Mosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oliver is not great a magic tricks. But he tries. And when everyone in his class—except him—gets invited to Maddox’s birthday party, Oliver’s friends Bea and Teenie get him an invite. But not as a guest, as the entertainment: a magician! Now he has to visit the local magic store for a cake, a wand, a hat—anything to make his magic show better! He can’t afford anything. But the store owner does have some old costume he gives to Oliver. Turns out, a bunny named Benny lives in the old hat and he knows a lot about magic. Oliver and Benny are ready to perform at the party—but instead, someone steals Maddox’s best birthday gift. Oliver, Bea, and Teenie are accused of stealing it—they need to put their detective skills to the test to find the real culprits.

[Crista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Age appropriate, no doubt, and moves at a quick clip to prevent boredom for the young reader. Relies on the now popular theme of telling bits of the story through art, and that is well executed, if trite. Includes directions on how to perform a magic trick, and that’s another great bonus feature. Not memorable, but cute and funny for an 8-year-old.

Magician-in-training Oliver gets a hat from a magic shop that comes with a talking bunny (Benny) inside. Together with his twin friends, they go to a birthday party where they wind up solving a mystery and stopping some bullies through the power of teamwork. Well, teamwork and a little bit of magic.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read and thoroughly enjoyed Bosch's other two series: The Secret Series and The Bad Book Series. This one is the beginning of a newer series. Oliver is short, a little dense at times and has few friends. In this book he is the only child in his class not to be invited to the rich kid's birthday party, but he goes as the magician entertainment. He is a terrible magician but with the help of a rabbit in the magician's hat, he is able to save the day and solve a mystery at the same time. This book seems to be for a younger audience than his other books, which is fine, but I didn't enjoy it as much. I love Bosch's humor but the humor in this book was too infantile for my tastes.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oliver is not very good at magic, but his friends got him a gig as the magician at a classmate's birthday party. While at the party, one of the birthday boy's presents has been stolen and Oliver and his friends become suspects. They promise to find the real culprit, but must do it before the final magic performance which only gives them thirteen minutes. With a silly plot and interesting characters, including a talking rabbit, this is a book kids will find humorous.

[Jamie Klos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was pretty good. It was a magical mystery with some humor mixed in. It reminded me of the book The Magical Misfits. I liked the storyline, especially the ending. The only thing that kind of disappointed me was the rabbits' humor. I feel like half of the things the rabbit says about Vegas, etc will go right over kids' heads. Oliver also seemed a little pathetic as the main character, but I think he was meant to be that way.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magic was always popular in my library, so Oliver, the magician in training, and Benny the Bunny who is training him, make quiet a pair. The characters might appeal to the second and third graders, but the language and asides in the dialogue seem better suited to a fourth grader and above. Loved the layout of the pages as well as the sprinkle of directions for magic tricks.

[Denise Lauron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I'd enjoy this kid's mystery more than I did. It took forever to get to the mystery and then the mystery got solved too easily. The birthday boy was showered in gifts and wasn't very nice to the other kids. The "punishment" made the reader understand how the birthday boy got to be such a handful.

[Nurul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and a magical reading session. Oliver is an aspiring magician and was roped in by the twins to perform at a school mate's birthday party. That's when things went wrong and all 3 were accused of stealing the birthday boy's present. Mom threatened to call their Dads and they had to race against time to find the thief and to perform the closing act.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of laughs from this less than talented 9-year old magician and his two friends. They do solve a mystery working together, and he is able to pull off one magic trick to save the day.
Younger readers will enjoy the antics involved in this latest by Bosch.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining mystery for younger readers. The element of magic will appeal to many aspiring magicians. Clever use of a magic trick at the end to reveal who had committed the crime. Only aspect missing was why the thief stole the robotic cat...

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

An elementary level chapter book with lots of pictures about a boy with two best friends but not many others who gets a job at a birthday party as a magician. The switch he was the only kid in his class not invited to the birthday party, he knows little magic, and a birthday present disappers.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My five-year old loved this. A good chapter novel you can read to the kiddos. Of course, he got a little into card tricks and three-shell monty like some common street urchin, but I love how he recreates what we read together.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with my son who shares the same name as the main character. Poor Oliver was teased a bit in the book so it made for some good conversations about empathy. Overall, it was a cute book to read with a 6-year-old.

[Ali Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read February 2023 🪄
•
Gut Instinct Rating: 3
Characters: 5
Believability: 5
Uniqueness: 5
Writing Style: 5
Excitement Factor: 3
Story Line: 5
Title Relevance: 5
Artwork Relevance: 5
Audiobook Narration: 4.25
Overall: 4.56🏳️‍🌈

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice length and supported by illustrations. Great for emerging readers, third grade or so. Oliver is interested in magic but lacks the confidence to be a great magician. he gets hired to do a show at a classmate, who didn't invite him, birthday party.

[Wendi (Alex) Werner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I would have liked it better with a different narrator. The voices were so annoying. It grated on my nerves! Perhaps the print version is better. I abandoned the book 2 thirds in . Too many books on my wishlist to waste on this.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5)

[Emily Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

JFIC

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read!

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 2 out of 5]

C-. fiction, children's fiction, grade 3, magic, bullies

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for this solid entry into novels for third graders

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just couldn't get into this book. I thought it was confusing and I am an adult reader. I think kids may be totally lost and not get any of the references and analogies.

[Stefanie]

Good for 3rd and 4th grade.

[Bexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for battle of the books. Fun story with a talking bunny and many, many puns.

[Jacqui · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ A silly middle grade read about magic with a trick at the end.