Presto! Magical Recovery Co. – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Isolation, family, fairy tales, belonging.
Children’s book title: Presto! Magical Recovery Co.
Children’s author: Rutendo Dione.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Sweet Cherry Publishing.
ISBN: 9781802630862.
Recommended for children aged: 9-12 year-olds.
First published: Paperback October 2024.
This children’s book is ideal for: Reading as a class, especially for those at the lower end of the age range, and as a lesson starter before creative writing tasks with more than one obvious outcome.
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Our review:
Amber’s life is at best regulated and at worst boring and solitary, her best friend even decided she was too ordinary to spend time with! It revolves around school because her parents aren’t only determined to get her the very best education, but to also live their separate lives without having to worry about her! Feeling a little miffed to discover she will be spending her school holidays at her Uncle’s house when she hardly knows him, Amber has no idea how her very ordinary life is about to transform and take her to places she didn’t know existed.
As she begins working with her Uncle Randall it becomes clear things aren’t quite as they seem when the Big Bad Wolf magically appears in her Uncle’s flat asking for help! Soon they are heading for a land known as Evadne where Amber finds the stories of her childhood aren’t quite as she remembered! As she works with her Uncle to discover the whereabouts of Little Red Riding Hood her computer programming skills are finally appreciated. As things get dangerous Amber learns things about herself and her family which change her whole outlook on life.
Our verdict:
Presto! Magical Recovery Co. is an easy read about a young girl whose regimented life becomes far less ordinary than she ever thought it could be. Her mother is a snob, who knows appearance and contacts are everything and is eager for her daughter to pass the entrance exam to an exclusive school for the opportunities it will offer. Her father, a lawyer, works all the time, seeming to never rest or have fun. Neither of them seems to think it unfair to leave Amber with her Uncle for the holidays where they expect her to revise constantly.
By the end of the story, both Amber’s and her father’s attitudes to their lives have changed. Although she doesn’t want to spend all her time revising, and would much rather be coding on her laptop, Amber does as she is told until her Uncle includes her in his plan to rescue Little Red Riding Hood when the Big Bad Wolf comes to beg for their help!
The changes in Amber and her father, who answers a distress call from his brother, Randall, are gradual but well-written and it’s clear that both will become closer as future stories in this series emerge. It will be interesting to see what else happens, especially with Amber’s mother who may struggle with what is happening to her family!
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- There are quite a few fairy story characters in this book, and the changes, especially to Red Riding Hood, are fairly drastic. What other characters could have things happen which would require Amber and Uncle Randall’s recovery skills?
- How would you feel if you found out a relative lived a secret life? What kind of jobs could someone have that they couldn’t talk about to anybody?
- What is your favourite thing to do in the school holidays? If you could use your skills like Amber which fictional characters would you want to rescue?
Many thanks to Sweet Cherry Publishing for the review copy.
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If you like Presto! Magical Recovery Co. by Rutendo Dione you might also like: our reviews of Nora and the Map of Mayhem by Joseph Elliott, Pizza Pete and the Missing Magic by Carrie Sellon, Gina Kaminiski Rescues the Giant by Craig Barr-Green and Francis Martin and Lily Halfmoon: The Witches’ Council by Xavier Bonet.
Browse our Year 6 reading list.
