Arabella and the Magic Pencil

by Stephanie Ward

Shaney Hyde (Illustrator)

Arabella is a beloved only child who has everything a little girl could want. That is, until her brother, Avery, the master of mayhem, comes along. While she certainly loves him, she finds that it’s sometimes very hard to like him. So she spends her days creating marvelous, magnificent things with her magic pencil, and trying to ignore him. But when he spoils her perfectly proper tea party, she decides drastic action is required and she erases him from her life. Oops! But things aren’t the same without him — can she get him back?

Arabella and the Magic Pencil is a charming story, which will appeal to any child coming to terms with a new sibling and to caregivers who are supporting changing family dynamics, as well as those who love fantasy and engaging, alliterative language.

• ISBN10: 1925820017
• ISBN13: 9781925820010
• Publish Date: 1 September 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: NZ
• Publisher: Exisle Publishing
• Imprint: EK Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 32
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

Arabella and the Magic Pencil by Stephanie M. Ward tells the story of a young princess who has everything a little girl could wish for. Each year she granted one wish by Royal decree. I should stop at this point and tell you that Princess Sophia loves everything about the story thus far. The illustrations by Shaney Hyde are in soft water colors and Sophia loves the palace, Arabella’s dresses and the gardens.

Arabella however is not impressed by the newest arrival to the palace. A brother with a rather large royal name or Avery for short. Sophia who will be five easily sympathize as she has a younger brother, Prince Clayton who turned three this month. The story shares what younger brothers do. They interrupt your play, move things, destroy things and at times royally frustrate you.

As it happens, Arabella was granted a magical pencil that allows her to draw anything only in a mad dash of frustration she erases Avery.

I loved watching Sophia’s reactions and admittedly she panicked a wee bit, but thankfully the author didn’t drag things out and Arabella being quiet clever and sweet came up with the perfect solution. Everything ended on a happy note with lessons learned and allowed for a lovely discussion about annoying siblings, friends and the reasons why we still love them!

The author was kind enough to send Princess Sophia paper dolls and coloring pages for the book, but folks can also download them for free from the publishers website: https://ekbooks.org/product/arabella-and-the-magic-pencil/ We had such fun coloring and playing with these. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer