The Wizard Next Door
Despite the pooh-poohing of his family, a boy suspects that his new neighbor, Mr. Myers, is a wizard. Where he sees dragons and monsters, his sister sees just a dog and a cat, and where he sees a space ship, his mom sees just an ordinary moving truck. The boy finally asks why only he can see what's really going on next door. "Because you're looking for magic," Mr. Myers tells him, and invites him over to show him the real source of the enchantment: books, which open up endless magical worlds. The dryly humorous text here plays straight man to Kellogg's distinctive, flamboyant artwork--the text for a scene showing Mr. Myers as a substitute teacher, for example, reveals only that "his stories really came to life," while the exuberant illustrations show the student body being carried off by flying monkeys as Mr. Myers reads aloud from The Wizard of Oz . It's a rollicking good read from beginning to end. Ages 5-up.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.