Wish

by Chris Saunders

Chris Saunders (Illustrator)

Rabbit has never had a wish before; but one day he gets not just one, but three! Wish is a touching story about the power of kindness and the magic of friendship, with beautiful and emotive illustrations from Chris Saunders.

Once every year wishes take flight,
filled with hope and twinkling light.
They dance in the air, with a swirl and a swish,
you have to be lucky to be chosen by a wish.

Rabbit cannot decide what to wish for, so he asks his friends Mouse, Fox, and Bear what they would do if they had a wish. Being selfless and kind, Rabbit grants all three wishes to his friends. They are so grateful for his kindness and generosity, they share their wishes with him.

• ISBN13: 9781786033468
• Publish Date: 14 March 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd
• Imprint: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 32
• Language: English

Reviews

[pamela]

Wish was 10/10 for illustration. The characters were beautifully designed, and the images absolutely gorgeous. They were wistful, hopeful, bright, and conveyed so much emotion. Chris Saunders' illustration is utterly flawless and had I been rating this book on the illustration alone, this would have been a five-star book.

But I'm not. So it isn't.

The story was rather unimaginative and derivative, with a rhyming meter that couldn't quite decide what it wanted to do or be. The rhyming scheme is forced in places, and there is one particular moment in Wish where this is incredibly jarring.

Thanks to you I am busy writing. Creating amazing stories so wonderfully exciting! I have been inspired by your selfless deed. Please, choose a story you wish me to read.

Consider the above quote for a moment. The word 'read' has clearly been chosen only to rhyme with the word 'deed', even though the fox's entire story has been about writing. This is a conceptual flip that really makes the forced rhyming obvious.

The message of the book is undeniably lovely, but it doesn't come to a strong enough conclusion. There is a message of friendship, and that helping others will be fulfilment enough, but the entire time the rabbit has been asking if his friends wishes are really for him, but it concludes with him living out all his other friends dreams with no actual statement on what this means to rabbit.

Wish isn't bad. It's just underwhelming. The illustrations are good enough to carry the lacklustre story, so I can still see this doing well. It's a pretty thing to have in the house, even though it'll probably be read once, and then left on the shelf.