The Magic Raincoat

by Ryan David, Sibylla Benatova (Illustrator)

To Emily's surprise, the orange raincoat that her mother bought her is even better than the yellow one Emily wanted—this raincoat is magical! "I wish you were a dog," Emily said to her brother, and, just then, he turns into a dog. "I wish I had a million dollars," Emily says, and, just then, two men show up at her door with a bulging briefcase. After Emily learns that she should use her new raincoat only for good causes, the raincoat disappears. "You wanted a yellow one and our neighbors' girl, Mei, wanted an orange one, so I traded with Mei's mother last night," Emily's mother explains. Through spirited prose and detailed ink-and-collage illustrations, readers will enjoy following Emily as she gains, loses, and tries to recover her raincoat.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Magic, Fantasy, Storytime

40 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Michelle Farella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story but horrible illustrations

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. No award
2. Preschool - Grade 2
3. Emily's mom got Emily a brand new raincoat however, she did not like it because it was ORANGE, Not YELLOW. She began to make a bunch of unrealistic wishes which became true instantly until she realized the power of her magical raincoat. She realized that making wishes can be fun but sometimes they are not always good so she needs be cautious.
4. I enjoyed reading this book about a magical raincoat instead of the common magical items such as a lamp, cupcake and many more. The illustrator's artwork is very unique and different because there is a combination of drawings and realistic textures. I like how there was a clear message of being cautious of our words and wishes that readers can learn from.
5. This book can be used in the classroom as a fun read and lesson about wishes. Students can think of an item that could be magical and write about it.

[Lingsze Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork is unique though it may take a toddler some time to figure out the artwork.

[Rachel Stine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The girls should have shared the coat (taken turns) but otherwise perfect

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost liked this book, but, for a book with "magic" in its title, it felt rather pedestrian. The only real consequence to Emily for her dad losing her job was that she had to have plain pasta and burnt cookies for dinner. (I'm not sure why the cookies were burnt; certainly burning the cookies would do nothing to save money.)

The illustrations were more interesting than the text, which, unfortunately made them seem a bit weird in contrast.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pictures are offbeat and charming and my favorite part of the book. The story started off cute & funny, but as the story wound down, it lost its enchantment for me, even though I think young children are likely to enjoy it.

[Jacques Bromberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming first children's book from Ryan David, beautifully illustrated by Sibylla Benatova.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

rain, magic, imagination

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the pictures in this,
would make a great gift for a little girl called emily! ;o)

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute read - a little bit sassy and with a nice little moral to be careful what you wish for. Michael likes it a lot.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this to P/K and they enjoyed it. It was a cute sorry but lacking something?

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the paper art aspect of this book, but the technicolor people seemed a little strange to me. The story itself was not much to write home about for me.

[Shannon Kitchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the story was great. The illustrations were a little distracting, in my opinion.

[Albena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute simple story, wonderful illustrations.

[Heydi Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book that would be wildly popular at story time, it's completely absurd and fun.

Wonderful for story times about rain or clothes or magic.