Where could magic take you?

The Magician Next Door

Written by: Rachel Chivers Khoo @Rach_Khoo

Illustrated by: Alice McKirley

Published by: Walker Books @WalkerBooksUK

Published: March 2024

Price: £6.99

First line: Winnifred Potts sat at her kitchen table and eyed the precious jar in front of her.

Genre: Magic, Mystery, Ireland

Age: 7+

Thanks to Toppsta for the review copy.

What’s it all about? Winnifred Potts has crashed landed her magical house in the back garden of Callie, a new arrival herself in Northern Island. However, unlike Callie’s home, hers is now at risk of attack by allsorts, including unfriendly giants, because her magical Wanderdust has disappeared. Can the two travellers help each other to find their home?

Why should I read it? This is the second book I have read by Rachel (see my earlier review of the Wishkeeper’s Apprentice) and I chose to read and review this one, because I enjoyed the writing in the last one. Rachel has really gentle way of writing, like reading in a cloud. Again, I’m not disappointed. Even though I found this one less emotional dramatic, it is a great stand-alone story that will resonate with many children who have to go through the upheaval of moving home at some point in their lives. Many of Callie’s feelings, about missing friends, routines and familiar buildings and places will be recognisable and hopefully this book will help them to deal with the situation. I like hiw Rachel keeps the number of characters in her story small, so you can really focus on them and their situation. Callie is likeable and links well with her new friend, the environmentalist, Sam. A boy who looks the local area like the back of his hand as he grew up there. Consequently, through his eyes, we the reader see and marvel at the local countryside, and gradually, Callie learns to love it. It really made me want to visit that area of Northern Ireland. The story arc twists and rumbles along at a good pace: Callie struggles to hear that she might be unintentionally at fault for making the magical house crash, but her determination sees her through numerous tricky situations and eventually leads her to saving Winnifred’s life. There is a satisfying and sequel defining end to the story. The illustrations are amazing throughout the story and make the chapters easy to read and entertaining. The map at the start of the story is immense! Some of the magical inventions that the wizard has are named a little tongue-in-cheek, but it didn’t bother me too much and would probably fit well for this age group.  The themes running through the story (friendship, families, belief in yourself, self-doubt) are strong and useful for this age group. I just wish that one day I could find a story where giants aren’t treated as always being evil and dumb!