Imaginative Stories Teach the Lesson of Believing is Achieving in This Creative Picture Book

Children in our society are losing the art of imagination with all of the immersion in using technology in our society today. Educators and psychologists are urging parents to limit screen time with children. Children as young as two years old are now consumed by tech toys. It is important for children to have the skills needed to use all of the technology today in order to obtain good jobs as adults, but the ability use one's imagination is just as important for success as the use of technology. Zachary Hyman's The Magician's Secret is a creative picture book for ages 5-8 that teaches the lesson of using one's imagination to achieve success.

Grandpa is Charlie's favorite caretaker. Grandpa used to be a magician and has wonderful ideas and stories to spark Charlie's imagination. Charlie believes that Grandpa's stories are all true. The stories are filled with all kinds of magical ideas. Grandpa's old trunk is filled with all kinds of objects that he uses to tell his stories. Grandpa's stories include magical adventures with The Red Baron, dinosaurs, and a trip to a tropical beach. Charlie becomes disillusioned when his dad tells him that all of Grandpa's stories are make-believe. Grandpa reminds Charlie that adults do not often believe in make-believe and that the use of imagination can actually turn a dream into reality. Grandpa's theory that believing leads to achieving success is an important concept that he passes on to Charlie. Charlie achieves success in a surprising way in a dream that he has about saving Grandpa just by believing in an old rock.

Joe Bluhm contributes his talents as an illustrator to The Magician's Secret with his creative and imaginative illustrations that help to tell the story. Bluhm uses a mixture of neutral and bright colors for his illustrations. The neutral colors of gray, tan, and brown are especially effective in the illustrations that fill each page.

The Magician's Secret was published by Tundra Books, a division of Penguin/Random House. It is recommended for ages 5-9 and has an ISBN of 978-1-77049-894-5.

Zachary Hyman's The Magician's Secret is a magical picture book to use in the classroom or for parents to use at home in a reading session with children to spark the use of imagination. There are very few opportunities in our society today for children to use their imaginations to create an interesting project or to have fun with imaginative play. Tech toys do everything for them and children actually do not have to think very much. If children are not encouraged to use their imagination to create something of value, our world will not be as creative as it was in former years.

*Read The Magician's Secret in a group story time session in your class. Teachers might have a box of objects as a story prop to go along with the story. Create a story box with objects that are similar to the ones that Grandpa has in his collection.

*One of Grandpa's stories tells of an adventure with The Red Baron. Have information available about the real Red Baron to add to the story session. Who was The Red Baron?

*Involve students in thir own storytelling with the objects in your class magical box. Have each child pull out one of the objects from the box after reading The Magician's Secret and allow them the opportunity to tell their own imaginative story about the object. Create a class book of students' stories.

*How does Charlie learn the lesson of believing to achieve? What happens at the end of the story when he believes the magic of the rock?

*Have students bring an object from home that they can use to create a magical story with by using their imagination.