Hocus Pocus Practice Focus - Amy Kimlat

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Author: Amy Kimlat

Genre: Children's Picture Book, Inspirational
Rating: 4.5 stars.

A cute children’s storybook focussing on an unusual hobby – magic!

When a woman magician who goes by ‘Greta the Great’ astounds Mila at her birthday party, Mila decides that she too wants to be a magician. After all, how hard can it be? Mila soon realisis that while the tricks seemed easy, they are absolutely difficult to replicate. Justas she is about to give up hope, a special person reenters her life. You know who it is!

I read the whole content with a big grin on my face throughout. There are so many things to love about this adorable story. It focusses on a career/hobby that rarely gets attention. It has a loveable protagonist who learns from her mistakes and isn’t afraid to try and try again. It emphasises the value of the 3 Ps – passion, perseverance and practice: all crucial ingredients for success in any field.

The story is written in rhyming prose. The rhymes are very simplistic but they do work well for the story. The vocabulary level is also apt for the target age group of 3-8 years.

I enjoyed the foreword by renowned magician David Copperfield foreword. He rightly says, “We see examples of strong magical women throughout our literary history - from snow queens to fairy godmothers. So why has magic, as a professional field, been so dominated by men?”

There are some simple magic tricks listed out at the end –the perfect bonus content for this story.

The illustrations are adorable. Coloured in vibrant pastels, each sketch depicts the action on the page beautifully.

I hope that this beautiful book inspires more little girls to consider magic as a possible option for them. It is the perfect combination of learning and fun. A stellar debut by an indie author who has transposed her own experience as a former kid magician excellently into this story.

My thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the DRC of “Hocus Pocus Practice Focus: The Making of a Magician”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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