The Wish Puppy (Molly's Magic) by Holly Webb
Molly can talk to animals and in the Molly's Magic series we hear all about her adventures with the animals which come to her father's veterinary surgery. In The Wish Puppy it's up to Molly to reunite Star the King Charles Spaniel with her twin sister Stella before her magic fades. Star is a wish puppy, you see, and the longer she's separated from her twin the more her magic will fade. This is the second book in the series but each can be read without having read any of the others.
This is a lovely book for the emerging reader of five years and above and particularly for girls who love magic and animals. There's adventure, as Molly (at seven years old she's a lovely roll model for young girls) has to use her wits to find Stella. The wonderful setting of the farm where Molly lives is also home to her father's veterinary surgery and all the staff and animals there. There's a story which is well constructed and keeps you wondering quite how Molly is going to solve the problem and a very satisfying ending.
The book is short enough to give the emerging reader the confidence of having a book under her belt without it being too much of a trial. I thought the chapters were slightly long at an average of fourteen pages each but I suspect that it won't prove too much of a problem because of the nature of the story. The vocabulary is challenging (I know vets who can't spell 'veterinary'!) but there are plenty of clues to help along the way. The font is large enough to be clear and there are regular line drawings which break up the pages.
There are four books in the series – and rather a lot of pages devoted to advertising other books by Holly Webb at the back of the book - but Scholastic are to be commended for the lack of cliff hangers which force parents into buying more books - or marketing for the inevitable merchandise.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag. The books are very similar, but if you're looking to pick a book which includes a child's favourite animal we have reviews of:
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Wish Puppy (Molly's Magic) by Holly Webb at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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