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The Book of Wizard Parties: In Which the Wizard Shares the Secrets of Creating Enchanted Gatherings
“A wizard shares 600 years worth of ideas for staging a party, along with an appropriate story to tell guests for each occasion....Craft and food ideas usually have some magical twist...decorations, games, food, songs, and stories are described in great detail...the ultimate, over-the-top, party idea book.” — School Library Journal.
- GenresChildrens
144 pages, Hardcover
First published January 28, 2002
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 2, 2025
Revisiting this childhood favorite was a lot of fun. The illustrations and book design are luscious, and I have fond memories of making these crafts and recipes as a kiddo. The basic hummus recipe here has been my family's favorite since I first checked this out from the library! And this retelling of "Tamlin" was the first story I learned by heart to tell to my friends at sleepovers. The stories, in particular, are just delightful.
As an adult, I can read this with a more critical eye, and I like to think that at this point in history it would be hard to publish something that relied so heavily on blatant cultural tourism and appropriation. It is, of course, NOT OKAY to throw a party based on a real, living culture, and I hope anyone drawing inspiration from this book would use their moral compass to draw that line. But many of these ideas could be adapted for more appropriate contexts and still be really cute. Instead of a "Chinese" dragon party, how about just a dragon party, for instance? But several of these chapters require very little adjustment - even as an adult, the alchemists' revels sound like a lot of fun. All in all, I'd say it's not worth throwing the baby out with the bathwater with this one!
As an adult, I can read this with a more critical eye, and I like to think that at this point in history it would be hard to publish something that relied so heavily on blatant cultural tourism and appropriation. It is, of course, NOT OKAY to throw a party based on a real, living culture, and I hope anyone drawing inspiration from this book would use their moral compass to draw that line. But many of these ideas could be adapted for more appropriate contexts and still be really cute. Instead of a "Chinese" dragon party, how about just a dragon party, for instance? But several of these chapters require very little adjustment - even as an adult, the alchemists' revels sound like a lot of fun. All in all, I'd say it's not worth throwing the baby out with the bathwater with this one!
June 24, 2020
A good book for throwing a themed party for younglings. Some of the projects have been repurposed from the The Book of Wizard Craft: In Which the Apprentice Finds Spells, Potions, Fantastic Tales 50 Enchanting Things to Make,or from there to here. As with that tome, about 50% projects could have clearer instructions.
November 26, 2007
Great when babysitting. Tons of ideas to pull out for activites to do with the kids.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews