Word Wizard

by Cathryn Falwell

At breakfast one morning, Anna discovers magic in her bowl of alphabet cereal. The letters in her spoon can be arranged to form several different words. She's a word wizard! Wielding her magic spoon, Anna helps a lost little boy named Zack find his way home-turning a wave-tossed ocean into a canoe and producing a horse once they reach the shore. Accompanied by Cathryn Falwell's ingenious collage pictures, this lively adventure is an enticing introduction to a creative form of wordplay. A concluding note encourages children to become word wizards by collecting letters and words from newspapers and magazines to form their own anagrams.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Childrens, Magic

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 23, 1998

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eating her alphabet cereal one day, Anna is amazed to discover that she can rearrange the letters in the word 'dawn' in order to create the word 'wand.' Now armed with a magic wand, Anna has become a word wizard, helping little lost Zack get home through the use of her creative word play...

Pairing a simple, fairy-tale feeling story with bright artwork created using cut-paper collage, rubber-stamp prints and watercolor, author/illustrator Cathryn Falwell offers a playful look at anagrams in her Word Wizard. Although it does play around with the idea of magic - I found the book through a list of witchy picture-books, which are an interest of mine - it is the enchantment of words that is central here. Anna may use a wand, but any child can follow her example and use letters to create new words, and Falwell includes a brief note at the rear inviting young readers to do just that. Recommended to all young word lovers, and to teachers looking for fun stories about letter and spelling.

[Caroline Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by Cathryn Falwell is about a little girl named Anna eating alphabet cereal who discovers how rearranging letters makes new words thus becoming the Word Wizard. Anna and her new friend Zack go on an adventure and use her magical spoon along the way by changing words like "shore" to become something useful like "horse." The illustrations follow along Anna and Zack's whimsical adventure in a fun and colorful way. I think this book would be a great addition to an elementary classroom especially when learning new vocabulary words and phonetic skills.

[Jennifer Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Word Wizard by Cathryn Falwell will be loved by readers who love words and creating new words from old words. The main character, Anna, is intrigued by the letters in her cereal. She soon begins making new words starting with "wand". She then encounters a little boy who is lost, and together, they find him safety with the power of words. With Anna's word wizardry skills they go through a stream in a canoe. They ride horses and then a cart. When they encounter a beast, they easily transform him into a basket. A large stone is turned into musical notes. Their singing transforms into wings which are put on the horse for them to fly away. When Zack gets hungry, Anna turns lemons into delicious melons. Happiness ensues after Zack is brought back home and leaves him not with his trusty sword, but something more powerful–WORDS. The story has a happy ending which kids will enjoy, though it's hard to connect with Anna or Zack. The illustrations are simplistic and mostly uninspiring which goes well with the simplistic plot and ending. On a high note, the author leaves students with many ideas they can use to create their own words and become lovers of words. She implores students to collect letters from cereal boxes, cartons, magazines, newspapers, junk mail, alphabet pasta, and even creating letters out of household items–twigs, buttons, pipe cleaners, and even vegetables. This book is more suited to 2nd and 3rd graders, but 1st graders might enjoy trying to make new words from old ones.

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cathryn Falwell, no relation to Jerry (I hope NOT!), is a talented writer whose way with words is equal only to her combining them with cutout materials in ways kids may find cool! Anna is a word wizard, whose I say name might well be GRAMM cos she does magic with ANAGRAMS. Helping out a lonely boy, Anna takes him on an incredible adventure into wordplay, using letters made out of cloth and papiermache and twisting them around into other words. Kinda like those old commercials for Alpha Bits cereal, where a big monster comes behind you. What do you do? You eat him: spell Monster with the Alpha Bits and boom! Or switch letters and put a STORM in your mouth-- chomp! Good thing Cathryn Falwell was eating her Alpha Bits! So now kids can as well!
Four stars
Word Wizard, part of a complete reading breakfast!!!

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, you could call this picture book an anagram adventure.

You could also call this a book that celebrates the incomparable feeling of learning to recognize letters, then learning how to read words, make words, play with words.

Here's an example of the word play in this story:

A quick wave
of her spoon
turned
SHORE
into
HORSE.

Such an exciting adventure for those who love words. Also for those who really-really find it an exciting prospect, learning to read.

FIVE STARS and big thanks for author and illustrator Cathryn Falwell.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun with anagrams! A girl discovers that she can create different words using the same letters while enjoying her breakfast. She becomes a “Word Wizard”, turning words into new words to help a lost little boy find his way home. The pictures in the book were made from a collage of various materials. Super cute way to find out how fun words can be!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Words are magic! This is a fun title where two kids move letters around to find anagrams and turn one physical thing to another (to travel away from the "shore," they turn it into a "horse.") Would be fun to pair with some alphabet magnets with a child learning to spell simple words.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable illustrations help beginning readers with the concept of anagrams through a fun story about Anna and Zack who have an adventure while moving letters around.

[Alexis Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is amazing. It helps children understand how to recognize words better and read. It is great for early childhood students learning new words and phrases.

[Jessica P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two young children play with words as the young boy tries to find his way back home.

[Brenda]

Anna finds all sorts of ways to play with letters to make new words. Great for phonics and word play.

[Julie Slayton]

This is a book about a girl putting new words together. I would use this book for younger students to use to help decode words.

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to use with word study!

[Dawn VanLerberghe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay story. It's a nice idea to get my students stared on anagrams.

[Kristen Phillips]

"Word Wizard" by Cathryn Falwell is a super great book for young children! In the book, Anna discoveries in her breakfast, one morning, that there are many words using the same letters. She later helps a child named Zack get to his destination. She uses the alphabet to make all different kinds of words throughout their adventure.
I really liked the book. It is a great play on words with a great storyline. The bright, colorful pages make it intriguing for the students. the book would be great for students learning sight words. And while you are reading the book, have the children repeat each sight word they recognize.