Edwina Wyatt is an award-winning Australian children’s author. Her debut junior fiction novel was The Secrets of Magnolia Moon. And now, Magnolia is back with more secrets to share in her year of being ten. While The Magic of Magnolia Moon follows on from The Secrets of Magnolia Moon, it can also be read as a standalone.
Magnolia Moon is very good at making magic. Not the ordinary sorts of magic, but the quiet, rarer kinds that are easily missed. Which is why she is always leaning and whispering: ‘Did you see that?’
Life can be magical if you take the time to notice. In The Magic of Magnolia Moon, Magnolia demonstrates that magic is all around you, finding magic in all kinds of places: puddles and boots, hats and umbrellas, even bowls of soup! With magic at its core, I enjoyed how this novel doesn’t shy away from real kid problems: friendship, school, family – and Magnolia invents everyday magic to help navigate it all.
A humorous addition to the story is the Moon family’s new grandfather clock that likes to nag at Magnolia for being late. While funny, the grandfather clock helps foreground a deeper, stronger emphasis on the concept of time.
Through Magnolia’s quirky eyes we see her long for the pastime of when her best friend used to live across the road, and the stress and pressure she feels about starting a new class at school. While these sit in the past and future respectively, I liked the novel’s emphasis on the present: ‘Magnolia felt that Real Life was happening all around her. There was no yesterday, or tomorrow. Only right now.’ Ultimately, magic lies in kindness, second chances, bravery and true love.
I thought the inclusion of illustrations was simple and effective. Katherine Quinn is a New Zealand illustrator working in both traditional and digital illustration whose work often focuses on long-limbed, bug-eyes girls with a touch of innocence and a sense of adventure. And that’s all Magnolia Moon is and more.
The striking illustrations throughout (including some stunning double-page spreads) is the perfect way for newly independent readers to transition from picture books to chapter books. The greyscale images also help younger readers to imagine colours in the places they want, emphasising Magnolia’s mission to find and create magic where you can.
Presented in a sumptuous pistachio-green hardback, The Magic of Magnolia Moon is an ideal gift for imaginative young readers and fans of Kate DiCamillio and Sara Pennypacker. I recommend it for readers aged 6 and up.
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