Poof!

by John O'Brien

Here is a picture book that could only come from the wacky imagination of John O'Brien. Imagine a wizard and his wife who love to spend the day lounging in their easy chairs. These two will do anything to avoid ordinary household chores. To change the baby's diaper, the wizard waves his wand and--POOF!--he unleashes a chain of events that leads to laughter on every page. This is John O'Brien at his funniest.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Magic

Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

Children's Book Author & Illustrator

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

DD loves making the "poof" noise when the Wizards change their animals into different ones to avoid chores. A silly, fun book.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two married wizards have a one-up contest to avoid taking care of their baby. I kinda wish the premise was something other than that - I feel like the author could easily have started with another "chore." It also bothered me that while both of them could clearly do magic, they're referred to as "the wizard" and "the wizard's wife." Ugh. If you can ignore these, the story is silly and has a good twist ending.

[Misbah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two (dumbo) wizards are arguing over whose turn it is to change the baby. Instead of changing the baby they CHANGE the baby into a series of animals, until they all end up as ducks in the rain.
Definitely a wacky story. 3 stars for the interesting illustrations.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the illustrations, however, the plot makes very little logical sense......

[Thia]

magic, family, mixed up fairy tales

[Vicki]

Cute story about two lazy wizards who don't want to do simple household chores. Instead of doing work they just wave their wands and POOF things change!

[Guadalupe Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book for children to use their imagination. I would use this book for a writing. I would ask children to write about "What if they had a magic wand."

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Wizard and wife are tired, but the baby needs changed. And with a POOF! all things change.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really creative book about 2 magicians!! So imaginative!! My kids really loved it.

[S.j.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such lazy parents! Interesting pictures and funny story.

[Dominic Salvucci · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 5 year old daughter thought it was, "Excellent." It is a silly story but she like magic and ducks.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

love it

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny story with silly illustrations.

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever concept. This would be a fantastic book for teaching kids about sequencing and could lead into a writing activity where students create their own chain of events.

[Rommel Sison · Rating 3 out of 5]

6-year-old daughter: 5 stars
4-year-old daughter: 3 stars

[Miss Janis the Storytime Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

funny, not so much for littles. just okay for littles.

[Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eleanor get a kick out of this fun little tale.

[D Nine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Letter P. Great for interactive POOFs!