The Lemonade Trick

The Trick Series #1

by Scott Corbett, Paul Galdone (Illustrator)

When Kerby adds a magic chemical to a pitcher of lemonade, the people who drink it are strangely affected

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Humor, Fantasy, Chapter Books, Juvenile

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Scott Corbett (July 27, 1913 – March 6, 2006) was an American novelist and educator. He wrote five adult novels, the first published in 1950, and then began writing books for children. He retired from teaching in 1965 to write full-time. His best known book is The Lemonade Trick, a children's novel.

Reviews

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that he knew, though, he was extremely curious. He was curious to know if the stuff would really work the same way twice -- only on somebody else! (PG 37)

This one made me nostalgic for a time I will never know. Dad goes to work in his pencil factory, maybe a school janitor who knows, mom is a stay at home mom. Nice little house they bought for 25k with a sweet dog in a nice, safe neighborhood. They also might have a second vacation home in Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard, who knows. But now their house is worth 2.5M and Kerby lives in a studio apartment that charges $2,500/month and Mom and Dad can't believe that with his degree in engineering he lives in a shit hole. Kerby doesn't work hard enough like they did at the pencil factory.

Wonderful Times....

1960s Hilarious! Thank you @June for the recommendation. This was funny and amusing. Not boring. Innocent and well written.

[Jackie "the Librarian" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kerby helps Mrs. Graymalkin when her heel gets stuck in a grate at the park, and she gives him an old chemistry set that used to belong to her son. Kerby mixes up a batch, and finds himself compelled to drink the wonderful smelling stuff, and then is equally compelled to be the best behaved boy possible for the rest of the day! He realizes that this has the possibility to be VERY useful!
I love the "trick" books, and this one and The Hateful Plateful Trick are my favorites. Sadly, they are long out of print.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scott Corbett was easily one of my favorite authors 40+ years ago when I was in elementary school, ...along with E. B. White, George Selden, Robert Arthur, Frank Baum, Elizabeth Enright, Robert Lawson, and Jack Ritchie.

As I recall, there were 10 of these books in the "Trick" series. And he authored "The Great McGoniggle" series, too.
Each one I'd highly recommend for your youngster.

[Luann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for a 9-year-old boy. My enjoyment of the book came more from watching his enjoyment than from the actual book itself.

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Kerby Maxwell received a chemistry set from a mysterious elderly lady at the playground, he decides to use it to protect himself from the neighborhood bully - with hilarous results!

I love Scott Corbett! I read this many years ago (Pippa Passes is my favorite of all his books) and my nephew enjoyed it just as much this time around.

[Kathy Blose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this a long time ago and found myself very drawn into the world of this kid and the mysterious lady, Mrs. Graymalkin, who gave him a chemistry set. It's fun to see how Kirby uses the chemistry kit and how he takes on his opponents (bullies) in the story.

This was the first in the series that I read and I enjoyed the whole series.

Kathy Blose

[Amanda Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember really liking Scott Corbett's books. When Mr. Corbett was living in Providence, RI, I had an opportunity to meet him and was both awed by his greatness and amazed at how regular he seemed. I remember my mother said something about how I wanted to be an author and he said it was fun but would never make me rich. I have many clients who would agree.

[Janell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished reading this to my grandchildren. My book was an old copy from my childhood and has a 35 cent price on the cover! :-) As we read together, I was reminded how much I had loved this book when I was young. My grandson thought it was great and wants to read another just like it!

[Jacklyn Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished reading this with my ELA group in school. The first time I’ve read it. The kids loved it. They laughed a lot. I too thought it was a funny story. Made for a lot of discussion with the kids too. :)

[babyhippoface · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another favorite from childhood. Something about these books by Scott Corbett captured my imagination. Probably the chemistry set that produced magic!

[Luann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this entire series when I was young. I read every title that I could find in our school library. I remember "The Lemonade Trick" the best, probably because it was the first one I read.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Josh said he'd give this book 4 stars. It's a sweet story.

[Elizabeth Root · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished this with my kids...we focused on "Personal Responsibility" They loved it and are using the book bag next week!

[Christine Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars -- Kerby Maxwell is a typical boy -- mischievous, a bit lazy, & always ready for a new idea -- but one early evening in the park, when he is already running late for supper, Kerby does a good deed. He sees an older woman who is 'stuck'. The high heel of her shoe is caught in a grate, and Kerby helps her get it out. Mrs. Graymalkin, the older woman, is so surprised and pleased by his help that she offers Kerby her grown son's 'magic' chemistry set. When he meets her the next early evening in the park to get the set, she points out to him her son's favorite chemical tube. When Kerby finally gets to use it, though, its effect is not the least bit how she had described it. In fact, 'opposites' begin occurring: first with Kerby, then with dog Waldo, then with the bully Bumps, then Fenton, and then finally with the other boys in the Sunday School pageant. The ending was surprisingly satisfying, but the dialogue is definitely dated. Golly gee!

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book and the series of which it was part when I found them in the school library at Halliwell Elementary in North Smithfield, RI (now defunct). I remembered these books for almost 4 decades, and in a fit of nostalgia, I managed to track down the author and series on Google and posted about it. A friend was kind enough to send me used copies acquired through Amazon . . . and now I find excerpts referenced in the homeschool writing curriculum I'm using (Writing With Ease), so I'm actually reading the series with my little kids. Also, I found that the author lived in Providence, RI, and taught at Moses Brown, not far from where I live at this time, so that was interesting, too! Anyway, the plot is about a kid who gets a magic chemistry set that apparently does real magic, and finds that by making a potion with lemonade, he can make kids act *good* - even the worst bully on the block!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend mentioned this series as one they liked when they were a kid. I had never heard of it even though I'm pretty sure that as I scoured the kid's section in my library when I was growing up, I was aware of all the books on their shelves. So I decided to give it a try now. I'm sure my perception now is a bit different than it would have been when I was 12 years old but overall it thought it was a cute book, entertaining and a very quick read. It's no Encyclopedia Brown although there are some similarities in the writing style and the morals learned by the characters. I probably would have read this whole series when I was young, based on my amusement at this particular book. This was the first in the series and I think I'll read one more to see how they carry out the initial premise in later installments.

[J.B. Mathias · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reminded me so much of a goosebumps book, it would have been one of the tame, not very creepy ones but the premise seems like it's right out of the pages of R.L Stine. Even the prose is very similar, Since this was written in 1960 it likely was an influence or they shared an influence.

The premise wasn't all that strong and even though the book was a short one it felt like it went on too long. The most interesting part was reading a childrens novel from 60 years ago, they use words like golly and gee whillikers and you get the sense it was produced in a much more wholesome time period.

The book was okay but because it's part of a series there was part of the story that was left unresolved and the part that was resolved was a generic bully story. I remember reading this as a kid but didn't remember any of the story because it was pretty forgettable.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if you took a potion to make you good? Let's add complications: You are a ten or eleven-year-old boy, and now that you are good, you clean the basement and make supper.

Why isn't your mom thrilled?

We went to my brother's house for brunch and the day on Sunday and I read this book from their shelf during a lull in the conversation. We ended up borrowing the book because I advertised it so delightedly to my children.

The only thing I couldn't understand was what the other vials in the chemistry box would do. Now I see that this book is the first in a series, some of which cost over $40 on ThriftBooks. I ordered a few of the cheaper ones.

[Kelli Bonin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an absolute joy the whole way through! My boys and I couldn't get enough of this every night. "One more chapter!" was the constant cheer. The ending pulled together so nicely. The characters are so charming. I just love a good old fashioned boy character. If you love Henry Huggins you will love Kerby Maxwell.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Silly. Could not hold the 11-year-old’s attention. The big “secret” of the magic chemistry set was that it made a kid “good. Very good.” And the parents thought he must be sick! Because he was respectful and did his chores. Ultimately rather lame, and no real closure either. Pretty cynical view of parent-child relationships.

[Madame Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious story of a boy who drinks a potion, and becomes “good”. The results of his behaviour make his parents worry, and wonder what has gotten into their boy. Fenton Claypool is an awesome character.

[Danny Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sort of book I would have found very compelling as a twelve-year-old. I'm not certain, however, that it has the longevity to be comprehensible to today's preteens.

[Michael David Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah. Loved this one as a kid.

[Karen Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining for a nine year old boy!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! But I can do better magic tricks.....

[Milner Mwenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't wait to enjoy the amazing adventure with kerby along with his dog.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn’t as good as I had hoped.

[Wendy Dunkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite series as a pre-teen/teen! A must read series!

[Rojitas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is about a very not bad boy but iresposable boy. He don't do his homework. But one day when he went to the park he know a old lady. that lady give to the boy a chemestry set. Then the boy began to do potions.The old lady teaches he boy a trick a lemonade trick.The boy do the lemonade trick and he drionk it.The next the the boy was different in his comportation.He began to do his homework and help innthe house with clinig the porch. But when the potion end s the boy new that he have to be resoponsable not with drinking something only by his selve.