If You Love a Magical Tale: The Wizard of Oz and Aladdin

by Saviour Pirotta (Adapter), Susanna Lockheart (Illustrator)

Susanna Lockheart's big and beautiful color illustrations are filled with details that change as if by magic when this book's pages are lifted and turned. The illustrations incorporate an innovative paper-engineering technique that literally transforms each picture's details before the reader's eyes. The double-page illustrations complement the retelling of two favorite tales of magic. Aladdin is a story of high adventure and narrow escapes from an evil sorcerer. The hero is Aladdin, a boy who can fly through the air on his magic carpet, and the scene of all the action is exotic ancient Arabia. The Wizard of Oz is a retelling of Frank Baum's famous story of Dorothy, her little dog Toto, the Wicked Witch of the West, and how Dorothy follows the Yellow Brick Road to the magical kingdom of Oz. Here is an imaginatively produced and very entertaining book that boys and girls will return to time and time again.

Genres: Picture Books

20 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Saviour Pirotta is the award-winning author of over one hundred fiction and nonfiction books for children. His works have been translated into 28 languages. Originally from Malta, he now lives in England.

Reviews

[Malia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I brought my nephew to the library yesterday and let him pick out 5 books. He wanted all "wagon books" (dragon... we worked on pronouncing it) so we picked out 4 and then he saw this book and was mesmerized by the pictures. So for the fifth book, we got this. No dragons... but he loved it! I read this to him three times yesterday and while I made lunch he kept "reading" it by looking at the pictures. It's a strange kind of almost pop up in which the pictures change if you open a page.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text is succinct. The illustrations are good, and the images that transition when you turn pages are clever.