A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic: Or, Like Lightning in an Umbrella Storm

by Philip C. Stead

A New York Times bestseller!

A plucky young goatkeeper sets out on a misadventurous rescue mission in this uproarious debut novel, perfect for fans of Kate DiCamillo and Lemony Snicket.

In a kingdom ruled by a capricious king, the castle rests on the backs of twenty-four goats, and the welfare of those goats rests on the back of a girl called Bernadette. So when one goat escapes, it’s up to her—with the help of a very forgetful wizard and a Boat That Does Not Grant Wishes—to bring it back safely.

Her task may be straightforward, but this book is anything but. Like a swirling herd of restless goats, the chapters are all out of order. The ending may prove to have been the beginning all along. All the while, the author of Bernadette’s saga—a character himself—hurries to write her a resolution, with very mixed results. And if you’re feeling lost, don’t worry; the story has twenty-four morals, of varying advisability, to edify you along the way.

Award-winning picture book author and illustrator Philip Stead makes a confident debut as a novelist in this laugh-out-loud, one-of-a-kind illustrated tale, chock-full of running gags, broken fourth walls, and underdog triumph.

Gilded edges, a velvet-touch jacket with foil accents and embossing, a foil-stamped cloth case and printed endpapers make A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic as thrilling to hold as it is to open, a perfect gift for any young reader.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Humor, Animals, Adventure, Childrens, Fiction

328 pages, Hardcover

First published April 7, 2026

About the author

Philip C. Stead is the author of the Caldecott Medal winning book A Sick Day for Amos McGee, also named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2010 and a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of 2010, illustrated by his wife, Erin E. Stead. Together with Erin, he also created Bear Has a Story to Tell, an E.B. White Read-Aloud Award honor book. Philip, also an artist, has written and illustrated several of his own books including Hello, My Name is Ruby, Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat, A Home for Bird, and his debut Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast, which was applauded by School Library Journal for “its wry humor and illustrations worthy of a Roald Dahl creation.” Philip lives with Erin and their dog, Wednesday, in a 100-year-old barn in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Reviews

[G_occasionally_reads [semi-hiatus cuz work]]

This book was an absolute treat. It might be because I just started approaching middle-grade books, but THE CREATIVITY, THE RANDOMNESS, THE CHAOS of this book were an absolute delight.
ADHD on dr*gs basically.

Now: Is this a children's book? Not sure. But I do not mind.

⚡️ There is Bernadette, our fearsome MC, who is the goat keeper of 24 goats (95 legs) that hold the king's castle.
🪄 There is a magician, a tree/boat/wheeled barrel/hut, a turtle (or was it a turkey? :P), and the NC!
🦄 And there are chapters in the wrong order. Oh, and an author who would have liked to be a bike mechanic
☔️ And an umbrella storm. OBVIOUSLY



I loved the chaotic energy of this one.

[Jessica (Odd and Bookish)]

I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher for promotional purposes.

This was such a cute and fun middle grade book!

The story was so creative. It was told out of order (it started at chapter thirteen) but was not confusing at all. The chapters were all clearly labeled so you knew where you were. The story reminded me of Alice in Wonderland because of how nonsensical and outrageous it was. For example, the castle was built on top of goats which obviously makes no logical sense, but that’s the genius of it. The book fully leaned into its absurdity and that made it work so well. The king in the story also reminded me of the Queen of Hearts because of his self centered attitude.

I loved the main character, Bernadette. I was happy to see things work out for her in the end.

The book also has illustrations throughout as well as full page character illustrations at the very beginning. All the pictures made the book feel so immersive. It made it so easy to visualize the story.

The endpapers of the book were the map that Bernadette receives from Clarence, the tollbooth owner. I thought that was a cute touch. I loved that the map was from his perspective because there was a lot to discover in the story and the map didn’t give anything away. The map also highlighted the ridiculousness of the story.

Overall, I had a blast reading this book. If you like silly and outlandish fantasy reads, I highly recommend this one!

[Em Hathaway]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the kind of story that feels slightly… misplaced—and yet, somehow, exactly where it belongs. It doesn’t quite behave the way you expect it to—and that’s where the magic lives.

I received an ARC of the audiobook via NetGalley, and from the very first moments, it felt like being invited into a story that already knew the shape it wanted to take.

A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic doesn’t follow a straight path. It turns, it loops, and unfolds in its own time—yet beneath that, there is a quiet assurance. A kingdom balanced on goats, a journey that resists urgency, and a narrative that moves out of sequence could easily feel disjointed, but instead, it settles into something cohesive and thoughtfully constructed.

What might have felt chaotic instead reveals itself as intentional. The nonlinear structure and looping progression don’t distance the listener—they ask for a different kind of attention. The story invites you to move with it rather than ahead of it, to trust its rhythm rather than question its direction. And in those moments where the narrator becomes part of the story itself, the boundary between storyteller and tale softens in a way that feels purposeful, drawing you further into the experience of being told a story.

At the centre of it all is Bernadette. There is a quiet steadiness to her, an emotional weight that anchors the narrative and gives shape to its more unusual edges. Through her, the story remains grounded, even as it bends and shifts around her.

The narration elevates this even further.

Daniel Henning brings an incredible sense of timing, personality, and theatrical charm to the story. Each character feels distinct without ever becoming overdone, and he leans into the humour and absurdity with such confidence that it enhances every moment. The pacing—especially with the unconventional structure—is handled beautifully. It never feels confusing, only immersive. It genuinely feels like being told a story by someone who understands exactly how it should be heard. It feels less like listening to an audiobook and more like being drawn into a story that’s being shared just for you.

The combination of Stead’s inventive storytelling and Henning’s performance creates something that feels both nostalgic and entirely unique—like a fairytale that wandered off-script and became better for it.

A story that takes risks, understands them, and carries them through with quiet confidence. ✨

[DaNae]

I probably shouldn't rate this based on the audio book. I think it needs the illustrations to work. It is very clever - a little too clever, to the point of self-indulgence on the author's part. Some of the jokes will land flat with young readers. I suspect a Terry Pratchett influence at work, without his depth. I was mostly bored. My print copy has yet to arrive. I may revisit my rating once I've checked out that format.

[Leah Agirlandaboy]

MAGNIFICENT. A new classic. The illustrations alone are worth the price of admission. This is silly and clever and touching and surprising (and full of useful Latin phrases). It’s reminiscent of things I’ve seen before (a little “Despereaux,” a little Lemony Snicket), but it does its own thing with confident style. I loved it.

[Jillianne Fettes]

I picked up a signed copy in a cute little bookstore while vacationing in Savannah, Ga. This book is quirky and fun and full of delight. I loved that it was out of order and I can imagine a lot of kids will too. It makes you so curious as to what happened to put the character in her current predicament. I have three kids and often help with a fourth grade class and I can see them very much enjoying the humor and fun in this book. It has a very lovely ending.

[Kathleen Graves]

Kid's review: "The story was funny but having the chapters mixed up was too confusing."

Adult review: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ I found this whimsical and so fun to read out loud. The morals were meaningful and I really appreciated the advanced vocabulary we were able to explain and discuss.

[Marcie]

P.25 the process of writing diwn elements in your memory”.

Use of language is amazing.

Makes me think of Norton Juster, John Agee, Kate DiCamillo, lemony snicket and so many others. Love the reverse chapers!

so much to care about in this. I yield to reviews that have and will. be written by so many.

This will be embraced by math, literature, philosophy teachers at almost all levels. Not sure how I feel about it for 5th graders. Kind of how I felt about Ella Enchanted so many years ago.

[McKenzie Richardson]

For more bookish opinions, visit my blog: Craft-Cycle

Full disclosure, I listened to the audiobook of this and think that may have hindered my enjoyment of the book.

I fully expected to enjoy this one. It had a Terry Pratchett feel to it so I really thought I'd love it, but the whole book just fell through for me.

Follow Bernadette, an orphaned goat keeper, as she attempts to save her tortoise friend, Perseverance, from becoming dinner for the king by seeking out the Tree Who Grants Wishes, recovering the missing goat, Lancelot, along the way.

The story is told out of order, starting in the "middle". I liked the concept of this and really thought I would enjoy it but it just didn't work for me. Being thrown into the "middle" of the story meant I didn't really have time to get to know and connect with the characters before the action started. Because of that, I wasn't very invested in what happened to them. Bernadette could have been a really cool character but she is quite underdeveloped, which was disappointing.

The book really dragged for me. I almost DNF'ed because I just could not get into it. Honestly, the most interesting part for me was Chapter 1 so it's a shame it came at the end.

The jokes get quite repetitive and quickly stopped being entertaining and just became annoying. There are a lot of inclusions that just comes off as filler, like the Latin phrases. They didn't really add much to the story, made the book more repetitive, and slowed down the whole pace.

I may reread this in physical form. I listened to the audiobook so missed out on the illustrations and creative text formatting. It seems like some of the formatting was worked into the audio narration which added to the repetitiveness of the book. The audiobook really did not work for me.

Okay read overall. Maybe my expectations were too high for this one, but I did not enjoy listening to this book. May try again with the physical book at some point.

[Marybeth]

Bernadette the Brave, a twelve-year-old goatkeeper who lives in a hut next to a crumbling castle (incidentally being held up by the 24 goats in her care), is on a quest to rescue her best friend Perseverance. Perseverance is a turtle who happens to have been kidnapped by the cook in order to become the king’s next meal. But wait, there’s more! This story is told by a storyteller (named “The Author”) who really would much rather hide in his mountain cottage than bear the brunt of writing a story that has put such a sweet young girl in such a horrible predicament. Unfortunately for The Author (and fortunately for the rest of us), the story continues on its way regardless… Even if we are being told things out of order.

THOUGHTS:
Readers will love Bernadette, her goats, and every side character in between… well except the King. No one can love this king. A story told out of order because The Author misplaced the beginning seems like either a recipe for disaster or genius. I assure you A Potion, a Powder, and a Little Bit of Magic is the latter. All fantasy loving middle graders need to read this magically illustrated and charming book. Adult fans of The Princess Bride and Ella Enchanted will enjoy this one as well. Highly recommended!

[Ann Haefele]

Creativity and humor is at its best in this book with a mixed up beginning, middle and end. The language made me think of Kate DiCamillo’s books as well as The Phantom Tollbooth. It was silly, heartfelt and full of life lessons. I loved that the main characters were all illustrated at the beginning. It would have to be an advanced 5th grade reader who would appreciate this story, but definitely recommend it for middle schoolers.

[Megan (ReadingRover)]

Cute story. A bit confusing at times but it all comes together in the end. The characters are quirky and endearing. The audiobook was super fun to listen to. I’m excited to get my hands on the physical book and see the illustrations. 3.5 stars

[Jo]

Maybe it's because I read this on vacation, but I found it humorous and offbeat enough to feel delighted about it. It's the story of a young goatkeeper named Bernadette who goes on an unexpected quest to rescue her best friend. The story (which picks up in the middle, advanced by a beleaguered and confused author who has lost the first chapter) features many absurdities, goats, an insane king, and a forgetful magician. Somehow this hodgepodge gets woven into a coherent story that works.

I liked the humor, all the threads that got gathered up throughout the book, and the creativity. The comparison to Kate DiCamillo which is featured in the Goodreads description is accurate, but this is a bit zanier.

[Carrie]

There is an absurdity to this adventure story, but a sweetness as well, and it all wraps up nicely. It kind of reminded me of The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz.

[Jen Herting]

a whimsical tale that feels like a shel silverstein poem was turned into chapter book - truly one of my favorite reads of the year

[Jeanne Zettel]

Very clever! Never have read a children's book where the chapters are completely out of order. Loved the characters, the language and the wackiness of the story. Hats off to Philip Stead.

[Tiffani Fuller]

Loved this book so much. Whimsical, silly, imaginative, beautifully written. Read it with my 8 year old son, and we both loved everything about it. :)

[Elizabeth Schwertfuehrer]

Just couldn’t find my groove.

[Kirsten]

Wildly creative, albeit a little confusing. For kids who love constructing mixed up stories, author intrusions, and silliness. Very fun. For strong readers. Steve the grumpy three legged goat is the best. 🐐

[C]

Enjoyable and jumbled, maybe I liked it because it reminded me of books I enjoyed as a kid, just enough tongue in cheek and not taking itself too seriously

[J.M.]

This book was great fun, a fairytale told out of order and filled with rich nonsense and wisdom. The author speaks directly to the reader, much like A. A. Milne's Winne-the-Pooh, adding to the whimsy. The absurd, magical chaos is reminiscent of Terry Pratchett. The whole thing is silly, charming, and deeply tender.

[Julia]

Favorite book of the year. It will take a LOT to budge this from my #1 spot!

[Aliceson]

This story started out with the premise of the king building a castle on the back of goats. It goes downhill from there. It made completely no sense. It started in the middle and kept going back and forth to different chapters- none of them in order. It was impossible to track. I can imagine children not being able to make sense of this at all and abandoning it. Several times in the book they start to say a cuss word, but bleep it out. I don’t really think that’s appropriate. The author makes use of a lot of eloquent sentences, but I feel like it’s over the heads of the intended audience. The Latin phrases don’t add to the book. To me they just cause more confusion. It’s weird that the author is a character in the story and doesn’t know how to write it or where it’s going. Maybe I could get behind that idea if the story wasn’t so messy. Bernadette was a likable character and I found myself rooting for her and the goats.

[Aileen]

This was so good for the heart. I loved the experience of this read.

[Tracey]

I thought this was a delightfully made-up story, told completely out of order. I think my 5th graders would enjoy it. It was just so silly and the premise and characters absolutely outlandish (a castle resting on the backs of a prime number of goats!!) I thought the addition of silly Latin sayings and goat-embedded morals was also quirky. Highly entertaining!

[Edda]

It has been a while since I dipped into middle-grade, but I LOVED THIS BOOK! It was fun, ridiculous, and all the things I love best about breaking the traditional rules when it comes to reading (as well as narrating) a story. I would definitely love reading and/or listening to this book aloud with older kids that appreciate a fun and magical story. I think this book is also great for the kids at heart, like me, that love it when authors play around with narrative structure and aren't afraid to try something new. Although I would recommend having a physical copy, as well as an audiobook edition, as there are things that I think you will want to reference back to and I hear there are incredible illustrations. I already know I will be picking up this book for my library, as well as making it a book that I gift to friends and family.

Thank you to Philip C. Stead, RecordedBooks, and NetGalley for the gifted Advanced Listening Copy.

[Sam]

that was fantastic and so fun. like howl's moving castle in terry pratchett style.

[Lisa Davidson]

This obviously has Series of Unfortunate Events vibes with its quirkiness and language fun, although it's definitely its own kind of quirky thing. I enjoyed the oddness and whimsy and I seriously love goats. This was fun and went in places that delighted me. Thanks to NetGalley I got to listen to the audiobook, and it had a sense of fun too

This is a review of the audiobook.

[Donna]

This book is wonderful! This is a book to read aloud and you must have the real book - the illustrations and feel of the pages are important to its magic.
Thank you Philip Stead for a delightful story. Long live the goats.

[Kennedys.Books]

The niche this book fills, at least for the kids I read with, isn't simply "a book for advanced readers." It's more specific than that. They're intellectually capable of understanding increasingly sophisticated material, but they're still children. I don't necessarily want their reading ability to push them straight into books that are more adult simply because they're capable of understanding adult subject matter. I still want books that feed their imagination, that are absurd and playful and strange and require them to suspend disbelief. This book manages to give them sophisticated language and sophisticated literary ideas without asking them to give up childhood wonder in exchange. And everything the bad reviews found frustrating really did exist. Reading this book aloud was actually difficult sometimes because there were so many questions. But I don't think the questions meant they weren't understanding the book. If anything, they were evidence that they were thinking about how stories work. Who is telling the story now? How can the author suddenly be inside the story? Is he still the narrator if he's also a character? Why are the chapters out of order? Where are we in the timeline? Can a character change what kind of character they are halfway through a story? It gave us a way to talk about narrative, point of view, chronology, first person, third person, metafiction, and all of these literary fundamentals without it ever feeling like a lesson. We compared it to baseball because the kids love baseball. When you first learn to bat, everybody starts with more or less the same fundamentals. You learn where to put your feet, how to hold the bat, how to stand. Then, once you understand those mechanics, you develop your own stance and start adding your own flair. Writing works the same way. You have to understand the conventions before you can really appreciate what it means when an author deliberately breaks them. That's what I loved about the author becoming a character. Normally, the author is invisible and supposedly has complete control over the fictional world. Here, he eventually ends up inside his own story and is just as confused about where Bernadette's story is going as everyone else. He even becomes relieved when he no longer has to figure out how to end it. It's such a strange, sophisticated joke, but it's wrapped inside a story about goats, magic, a kooky magician, and a wishing tree who has decided that granting wishes is morally complicated because one person's wish can unravel someone else's. Even the almost cursing worked for us. The characters don't actually swear. The book literally bleeps them out. The kids know exactly what the joke is, and it makes them giggle because it gives them this tiny feeling of being let in on something slightly grown-up. The same thing happens when the book talks about the king being hungover. They're old enough to know what that means. The book doesn't baby them, but it also doesn't suddenly become an adult book.

And then there are passages like the one about Perseverance the turtle:

"Her cold shell kept Bernadette warm throughout the night."

Literally, that doesn't make sense. A cold shell shouldn't keep someone warm. Emotionally, though, it makes perfect sense. Perseverance is dependable. She's patient. She's never "a riddle to unravel." She simply stays beside Bernadette. Her shell can be physically cold while her presence makes Bernadette feel warm and safe. And I love that the book doesn't stop and explain the metaphor. It trusts the reader to understand the contradiction. I think that's actually one of the things I loved most about the book. It asks children to be comfortable with things that don't resolve neatly or make perfect literal sense. A cold thing can keep you warm. A book can begin in the middle. An author can become one of his own characters. A tree can decide it no longer wants to grant wishes. A goat can have an absurd backstory and still become someone you care about. And Bernadette can move through all of that chaos while remaining incredibly gentle and sincere. So I don't actually think that negative reviewer was necessarily wrong about what the book is like. I just disagree with what those qualities mean. For one child, "confusing and out of order" might genuinely mean frustrating. For another child, it means, "Wait. What is this book doing?" For one reader, unfamiliar vocabulary and Latin phrases may feel unnecessary. For another, they're invitations to ask questions. For one adult, the bleeped-out swearing might feel inappropriate. For the kids I read it with, it was hilarious and tender. And I think that's why the review made me want to read it so badly. It sounded like a book for children who are old enough to understand that stories have rules, but still young enough to be delighted when somebody breaks every one of them. More than anything, it lets children feel intellectually grown-up without asking them to give up the imaginative part of childhood to get there.