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The Wizard
The wizard, watchful, waits alone within his tower of cold gray stone and ponders in his wicked way what evil deeds he'll do this day. What do you think the wizard is planning to do? Conjure a magic spell? Turn a frog into a flea? Fill a cauldron with bubbling brew? You may think you know . . . but watch out. Because if the wizard is bored, he may come looking for you!
32 pages, Hardcover
First published June 26, 2007
3 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Jack Prelutsky
148 books233 followersJack Prelutsky is an American poet. He attended New York public schools, and later the High School of Music and Art and Hunter College. Prelutsky, who has also worked as a busboy, furniture mover, folk singer, and cab driver, claims that he hated poetry in grade school because of the way it was taught. He is the author of more than 30 poetry collections including Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep< and A Pizza the Size of the Sun. He has also compiled countless children's anthologies comprised of poems of others'. Jack Prelutsky was married to Von Tre Venefue, a woman he had met in France. They divorced in 1995, but Jack remarried. He currently lives in Washington state with his wife, Carolyn. He befriended a gay poet named Espiritu Salamanca in 1997 and both now work together in writing poems and stories for children and adults alike.
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September 5, 2007It seems like such an obvious notion that I'm more than a little shocked that other publishers haven't dived into the idea first. Step One: Locate a book of children's poetry. Say, Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep, by Jack Prelutsky (circa 1976). Step Two: Say to the author of the poetry (if that person still happens to be alive, of course), "Gee whiz. Wouldn't it be great if we made that old poem of yours, `The Wizard', into its own picture book?" Acquire permission to do so. Step Three: Find an up-and-coming illustrator. Someone you've worked with before who you're fairly certain will end up the Next Big Thing. Step Four: Observe your clever idea hitting the New York Times bestseller list and smile at how logical and easy this entire process was. Is this simplifying things a bit? Yup. But when I saw "The Wizard" by Jack Prelutsky in its full glory I realized just how ripe the market is for this kind of poetry picture book. Douglas Florian and various Shel Silverstein heirs may wish to consider the advantages to this kind of artistry. Add in current Greenwillow baby Brandon Dorman and you've got yourself a book that's primed to win more than a few fans ASAP.
From the benign fellow on the cover you might think that this was a cheery tale of your average everyday wizardy fellow. Not so. As we learn right from the start, "The wizard, watchful, waits alone / within his tower of cold gray stone / and ponders in his wicked way / what evil deeds he'll do this day." Down below sits a happy little cluster of houses, while up in the nearby tower the wizard turns his attention to a frog. He changes it into a pair of mice, a cockatoo, a small cockatoo, chalk, a silver bell, and then finally a frog again. Then, just when the poor thing is about to escape, the frog is at last turned into a cloud of thick smoke. Now fully amused, the wizard takes note of the kids down below and we are warned, "Should you encounter a toad or a lizard / look closely ... it may be the work of a wizard." A telltale chameleon sitting on a skateboard suggests as much.
I enjoyed the at odds setting of the story too. Dorman places his action at the end of a suburban cul-de-sac. The title page shows your average everyday houses, ending in a ramshackle skeleton of a hut with a tall stone tower just behind. It makes you wonder how the Wizard got his zoning permits. I like to think his tower was around first and suburbia grew up around him. That would certainly explain the dislike he has taken to the children that play in the street below him. And then other details begin to pull at your eyes the more you read. Why are there slash marks on the Wizard's walls? Did he create those or were they done by something he's holding prisoner? They seem important, if only because they're on the book's endpapers. And why are there pushpins connected by yarn on the large globe in his home? Is this to show how the Wizard can appear anywhere so watch out little children?
Leading kids to fun poetry books can feel like leading calves to the slaughter if it's done poorly. Consider pairing this book with Adam Rex's, Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich for a truly original, colorful, kid-friendly exercise in modern poetic storytelling. This title is sure to have a built-in following of kids either too young for Harry Potter or just beginning him. With its rich deep colors, surprising artistry, and fun rhymes and story, the pairing of Prelutsky and Dorman feels almost natural. Like a partnership that's had time to build and grow. For anyone looking for some new additions to their poetry shelves, consider this combination of the new and the old a dynamic, collectable pairing.
From the benign fellow on the cover you might think that this was a cheery tale of your average everyday wizardy fellow. Not so. As we learn right from the start, "The wizard, watchful, waits alone / within his tower of cold gray stone / and ponders in his wicked way / what evil deeds he'll do this day." Down below sits a happy little cluster of houses, while up in the nearby tower the wizard turns his attention to a frog. He changes it into a pair of mice, a cockatoo, a small cockatoo, chalk, a silver bell, and then finally a frog again. Then, just when the poor thing is about to escape, the frog is at last turned into a cloud of thick smoke. Now fully amused, the wizard takes note of the kids down below and we are warned, "Should you encounter a toad or a lizard / look closely ... it may be the work of a wizard." A telltale chameleon sitting on a skateboard suggests as much.
I enjoyed the at odds setting of the story too. Dorman places his action at the end of a suburban cul-de-sac. The title page shows your average everyday houses, ending in a ramshackle skeleton of a hut with a tall stone tower just behind. It makes you wonder how the Wizard got his zoning permits. I like to think his tower was around first and suburbia grew up around him. That would certainly explain the dislike he has taken to the children that play in the street below him. And then other details begin to pull at your eyes the more you read. Why are there slash marks on the Wizard's walls? Did he create those or were they done by something he's holding prisoner? They seem important, if only because they're on the book's endpapers. And why are there pushpins connected by yarn on the large globe in his home? Is this to show how the Wizard can appear anywhere so watch out little children?
Leading kids to fun poetry books can feel like leading calves to the slaughter if it's done poorly. Consider pairing this book with Adam Rex's, Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich for a truly original, colorful, kid-friendly exercise in modern poetic storytelling. This title is sure to have a built-in following of kids either too young for Harry Potter or just beginning him. With its rich deep colors, surprising artistry, and fun rhymes and story, the pairing of Prelutsky and Dorman feels almost natural. Like a partnership that's had time to build and grow. For anyone looking for some new additions to their poetry shelves, consider this combination of the new and the old a dynamic, collectable pairing.
May 30, 2024
For longtime fans of Jack Prelutsky, The Wizard may ring a bell. The ballad first saw major publication thirty-one years before its debut as a picture book, as one of twelve scary poems in Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep, a 1976 collaboration between Jack Prelutsky and legendary book artist Arnold Lobel. That single poem has been extracted from Nightmares and packaged with Brandon Dorman's fantastic paintings, and the result is The Wizard. It appears the artwork is the star of this picture-book adaptation, and rightly so: the vibrant color, depth of detail, and ambitious dimensions are spectacular, a standout achievement that has Caldecott written all over it even though the book wasn't cited by the Caldecott Committee. Jack Prelutsky had been a known commodity in children's literature for decades by the time The Wizard was released as a picture book, but Brandon Dorman's prowess announced itself in a big way in this revamped offering, the emergence of an artistic superstar in children's literature.
The wizard watches from the window of his tall tower, far above the unassuming suburban streets where kids mill about and play. A dastardly loner the wizard is, his shelves crammed with parchment and potions to assist his intention to plague the innocent with black magick. As the wizard ponders what malevolence he might indulge in today, an unlucky frog hops into his upstairs lair, and the wizard gives flight to his own wretched fancy by transforming the frog from this animal to that, from living thing to inanimate object and back to living being again. The wizard has his fun with the frightened frog, but sooner or later the game is over, and the wizard returns to the window to mull anew what fiendishness he could visit on the children of his neighborhood. Beware the hermit conjurer in his high tower, for you may be the next victim of his sorcery.
Jack Prelutsky's verse is as captivating in 2007 as two generations earlier when he wrote The Wizard. His brand of poetic sophistication is a unique delight for juvenile audiences, and Brandon Dorman's visual insight into the poem is marvelous, equal in its own way to Arnold Lobel's understated genius in illustrating The Wizard for the book Nightmares years earlier. The Prelutsky/Dorman re-imagining of The Wizard has my enthusiastic recommendation, and I would rate it two and a half stars. It's hard to conceive of a kid who wouldn't like this book.
The wizard watches from the window of his tall tower, far above the unassuming suburban streets where kids mill about and play. A dastardly loner the wizard is, his shelves crammed with parchment and potions to assist his intention to plague the innocent with black magick. As the wizard ponders what malevolence he might indulge in today, an unlucky frog hops into his upstairs lair, and the wizard gives flight to his own wretched fancy by transforming the frog from this animal to that, from living thing to inanimate object and back to living being again. The wizard has his fun with the frightened frog, but sooner or later the game is over, and the wizard returns to the window to mull anew what fiendishness he could visit on the children of his neighborhood. Beware the hermit conjurer in his high tower, for you may be the next victim of his sorcery.
Jack Prelutsky's verse is as captivating in 2007 as two generations earlier when he wrote The Wizard. His brand of poetic sophistication is a unique delight for juvenile audiences, and Brandon Dorman's visual insight into the poem is marvelous, equal in its own way to Arnold Lobel's understated genius in illustrating The Wizard for the book Nightmares years earlier. The Prelutsky/Dorman re-imagining of The Wizard has my enthusiastic recommendation, and I would rate it two and a half stars. It's hard to conceive of a kid who wouldn't like this book.
February 10, 2017
This book is a wondrous blend of poetry and illustration. The cover draws you in immediately. A wizard, with long white hair and beard, wearing a green robe raises his arms to a magical light above. In one hand is a crooked wand. Caught in the rays is a small green frog. The picture fairly glows with magic.
The illustrations inside are not a disappointment. They are all exquisite two page illustrations. They gleam with magical charm.
The story rhymes but not in that irritating singsong way that many picture books adapt. It feels as though you are reading a book of poetry, much like one of my favorite books by Prelutsky The Dragon’s Are Singing Tonight.
It begins:
“The Wizard, watchful, waits alone
within his tower of cold gray stone
and ponders in his wicked way
what evil deeds he’ll do this day.”
A ragged crow, sitting on a cobwebbed table filled with magical paraphernalia, watches the Wizard as he gazes out his tower window onto the small town. The reader is instinctively intrigued as to what wickedness is about to unfold.
This story is basically a vignette wherein the Wizard transforms a frog into a flea into a pair of mice into a cockatoo into chalk into a silver bell and back into the bullfrog. Children may find it upsetting that at the end he dispenses of the bullfrog in a cloud of smoke. The story ends:
“Should you encounter a toad or lizard, look closely…
it may be the work of the Wizard.”
Although the story is easy to understand, I would recommend it for school-age children and up. Younger children, especially those who believe in magic, may be disturbed by the events.
School-age children who love magic and wizardry will be captivated by this beautiful book.
The illustrations inside are not a disappointment. They are all exquisite two page illustrations. They gleam with magical charm.
The story rhymes but not in that irritating singsong way that many picture books adapt. It feels as though you are reading a book of poetry, much like one of my favorite books by Prelutsky The Dragon’s Are Singing Tonight.
It begins:
“The Wizard, watchful, waits alone
within his tower of cold gray stone
and ponders in his wicked way
what evil deeds he’ll do this day.”
A ragged crow, sitting on a cobwebbed table filled with magical paraphernalia, watches the Wizard as he gazes out his tower window onto the small town. The reader is instinctively intrigued as to what wickedness is about to unfold.
This story is basically a vignette wherein the Wizard transforms a frog into a flea into a pair of mice into a cockatoo into chalk into a silver bell and back into the bullfrog. Children may find it upsetting that at the end he dispenses of the bullfrog in a cloud of smoke. The story ends:
“Should you encounter a toad or lizard, look closely…
it may be the work of the Wizard.”
Although the story is easy to understand, I would recommend it for school-age children and up. Younger children, especially those who believe in magic, may be disturbed by the events.
School-age children who love magic and wizardry will be captivated by this beautiful book.
January 10, 2014
A book my 6 yr old as well as my twin 3 yr olds loved. A solid reading level 2 book, this cute story keeps all ages engaged with the bright colorful pictures and cute story. The writing is poetry with great descriptive words. And the illustrations are beautiful and detailed. A lot of fun for us. A great addition to any children's library.
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February 15, 2014This book is included for future reference, and not for the purposes of being graded for the text set assignment.
January 23, 2019
This semi-scary story tells the tale of The Wizard, a Dumbledore-looking wizard who is described to the reader as "wicked" and "fiendish" interested in doing "evil deeds." However, all he does in the story is turn a bullfrog into a flee, then into a pair of mice, a cockatoo, a piece of chock, then into a bell, and, finally back into a frog. The story ends by encouraging the reader to imagine the magic around her in her own life because what she sees "may be the work of the Wizard."
The story is perfect for kids interested in a magical, spooky story that is quite a scary or horror story. This is perfectly encapsulated by the illustrator Brandon Dorman's use of cold colors like green, blue, and gray that show The Wizard in creepy colors that are still inviting. One of the best aspects of the illustrations is that the first image with The Wizard shows him standing in the sunlight from the window at the far left edge of the left page. Crossing towards the other end of the page, the light gradually gets darker. As the Wizard partakes in his "evil deed," the colors are cool and dark. But when the Wizard turns the bullfrog back into its rightful body, the Wizard is once again standing in warm sunlight looking gout the window on the far right side of the page.
An easy story with a fun rhyme! Sure to be a good read-aloud for younger kids / beginning readers to memorize the rhymes and become familiar with predicting stories.
The story is perfect for kids interested in a magical, spooky story that is quite a scary or horror story. This is perfectly encapsulated by the illustrator Brandon Dorman's use of cold colors like green, blue, and gray that show The Wizard in creepy colors that are still inviting. One of the best aspects of the illustrations is that the first image with The Wizard shows him standing in the sunlight from the window at the far left edge of the left page. Crossing towards the other end of the page, the light gradually gets darker. As the Wizard partakes in his "evil deed," the colors are cool and dark. But when the Wizard turns the bullfrog back into its rightful body, the Wizard is once again standing in warm sunlight looking gout the window on the far right side of the page.
An easy story with a fun rhyme! Sure to be a good read-aloud for younger kids / beginning readers to memorize the rhymes and become familiar with predicting stories.
September 10, 2017
The Wizard is an adorable story about an evil wizard and his spells on a frog. The wizard turns him into many strange objects, before returning him to a frog and sending him home. While the story is funny and cute, what really caught my eye were the illustrations. They were colorful and beautiful, and I found myself looking at them for a little longer than a 20 year old should. I would say the illustrations were the best part of the story. It is a book that you could look at the pictures alone, and understand most, if not all, of the story. The poetry included was absolutely delightful to the story though, and I would definitely choose to keep it. There would not be much for a teacher to utilize in the classroom with this book, however it is still enjoyable, possibly a good pick for halloween.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2018
The Wizard is a book that is written in poetry, with the words being rhymed in the sentence. The illustrations was beautiful, with a lot of details presented in the book. I was enjoying looking through the illustrations, and how it was seeing how the words rhymed in rhythm. I stopped at times to look at the illustrations in each of the pages. The book is about a wicked wizard, basically written in how and what does the wizard do during his everyday life. Throughout the pages, we were able to see what spells the wizards were doing and made it believable for young readers on the wizard's existence. I think this book was a cute book, but there wasn't much the readers can learn from the message of the book. This book will definitely help readers understand poems through rhyming, but other than that, this book will simply be a interesting and fun read for readers.
September 6, 2017
The Wizard By Jack Prelutsky is such a fascinating out-of-this-world kind of book. The book had such a nice flow with sing song kind of poetry that just rolled off the tongue. The illustrations By Brandon Dorman only added to the book bringing the words to life. The front cover page already just drawls you in with wonder and awe of this grand white haired wizard. This would be a great book to read to a group of k-2nd graders that you're teaching about poetry or really bringing in details to writing.
May 3, 2022
It was alright. I was really excited for this book because it looked so magical and grand, but it was only okay. The illustrations are cool, but I didn't like the story. I realize it's a poem, but I wasn't a fan of it. I didn't really understand why he kept transforming things back and forth. It felt like there was no real purpose to it. I also got some creepy vibes from this wizard which I guess makes sense since he's an evil wizard, but I did not like him at all. Would not read again. The wizard character needs more depth.
January 19, 2018
The art was stunning. The dynamic angles and the thought put into all the objects that were incorporated into the scenes were wonderful and truly accented the character. It was a simple story of basically "a day in the life" of an evil wizard. Not much substance or deep, life-changing storyline. A cute kids story book that possibly an okay choice for a story to read around halloween time.
June 22, 2018
The author is clearly talented with words and the illustrations draw you in. But the wizard turns out to be an evil one (the author makes this clear) and for no apparent reason. The book seems to be structured for young children but there’s nothing fanciful or fun about a wizard who is pointlessly mean. It was a let down to my five year old.
May 16, 2024
5/1624: I absolutely loved the illustrations by Brandon Dorman in this book and the rhyme that Prelutsky came up with isn't bad either, but I'm not sure - this is more of a "horror" children's picture book than a joyful, lovely book. Maybe it would be good to read near Halloween when kids are looking for a fright? Maybe.
April 14, 2019
I liked the word choice of this book. The author does a great job introducing words that aren’t used in normal conversations. However, I wouldn’t use it in my class. It isn’t the type of message I want to convey to my students.
Guided reading: N/A
DRA Level: N/A
Traits: organization
Guided reading: N/A
DRA Level: N/A
Traits: organization
May 25, 2017
Absolutely GORGEOUS art, cool rhymes, but too short! Pretty dark for a kids book and I like dark.
December 15, 2017
Such pretty illustrations. UGH!! GORGEOUS
January 18, 2018
Fun read. Good read-aloud for 5-7 y/o.
March 23, 2018
The poem and the art: purely magical! This is one of those children's books I would always want to keep on my shelf.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2018
Spectacular storytelling and illustrating. My grandson and I read this over and over again.
January 22, 2019
The beautiful illustrations make this book work for me. The author has been recognized for his poetry. And it's a great poem. But together they work the best.
January 16, 2021
Fantastic illustrations.
September 20, 2021
Plus side of okay. The illustrations are better than the story.
May 26, 2022
Amazing combination!--Jack Prelutsky and Brandon Dorman as illustrator!
August 1, 2022
Wizards are great
January 26, 2024
This was kind of a fun fantasy story about a wizard changing a bullfrog into other creatures and eventually back into a build frog. I enjoyed the illustrative style.
June 29, 2024
I think it was about learning about magic. Even if magic isn't real, it can still be cool.
(Paid attention to the rhyming)
(Paid attention to the rhyming)
July 10, 2025
A Wizard alone and solitary in his tower, thinks of a way to amuse himself. This poem reveals just how the Wizard deals with his boredom.
September 14, 2024
Not text heavy and beautiful illustrations.
Themes: wizards, magic
Themes: wizards, magic
March 29, 2008
America's first Children's Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky may have created the wizard, but it's Brandon Dorman's outstanding computer-generated illustrations that will get kids interested in this book. The wizard and his tower are pictured in fascinating detail, from the fireflies in a jar to the snakes in a portrait of Medusa slithering out of the painting. While Dorman's wizard might put older readers in mind of Merlin the magician, younger readers and Harry Potter fans of all ages will see the resemblance to benevolent and wise Albus Dumbledore. Well...how might I put this? To borrow a phrase, I know Dumbledore, and this guy is no Dumbledore.
Despite his tower's location on a modern cul-de-sac in what appears to be a nice neighborhood, this wizard is not a good guy, as the opening stanza tells us: "The wizard, watchful, waits alone within his tower of cold gray stone and ponders in his wicked way what evil deeds he'll do this day." And after we watch him transform a poor frog into a flea, two mice, a cockatoo, and even a piece of chalk, we begin to look at everything through a different filter. Even the end papers rouse our suspicion: why are there tally marks scratched into the tower walls? No explanation is given and we are left to wonder who/what/when/why about the innocent thing that was perhaps trapped there. While the poem itself isn't too frightening, if read aloud with the right amount of spooky intonations, the last lines could be the catalyst for some terrific wizard-related nightmares: "He may pluck someone off the spot and turn him into... who knows what?"
Despite his tower's location on a modern cul-de-sac in what appears to be a nice neighborhood, this wizard is not a good guy, as the opening stanza tells us: "The wizard, watchful, waits alone within his tower of cold gray stone and ponders in his wicked way what evil deeds he'll do this day." And after we watch him transform a poor frog into a flea, two mice, a cockatoo, and even a piece of chalk, we begin to look at everything through a different filter. Even the end papers rouse our suspicion: why are there tally marks scratched into the tower walls? No explanation is given and we are left to wonder who/what/when/why about the innocent thing that was perhaps trapped there. While the poem itself isn't too frightening, if read aloud with the right amount of spooky intonations, the last lines could be the catalyst for some terrific wizard-related nightmares: "He may pluck someone off the spot and turn him into... who knows what?"
August 1, 2017
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The wizard is high above in a tower above a suburban neighborhood. A frog comes to visit and is magically tortured by the wizard who is quite bored and needs something to do to pass the time.
My nephew and I read this book together and he was totally confused. One of the only ones so far this year that he didn't enjoy. The words were not coming together to mean anything to him. The drawings were great and I enjoyed talking him through the simple story. I enjoyed it more as a adult than he did as a child. If you want the kids you are reading with to enjoy poetry then this is a good book to start them on. That is why I rated it a 4 star, because an adult would find this book one they'd want to read over and over again with their children, especially children who love magic and laugh at silly things like frogs being magically changed.
BOTTOM LINE: For wannabe kid poetry lovers.
______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...
The wizard is high above in a tower above a suburban neighborhood. A frog comes to visit and is magically tortured by the wizard who is quite bored and needs something to do to pass the time.
My nephew and I read this book together and he was totally confused. One of the only ones so far this year that he didn't enjoy. The words were not coming together to mean anything to him. The drawings were great and I enjoyed talking him through the simple story. I enjoyed it more as a adult than he did as a child. If you want the kids you are reading with to enjoy poetry then this is a good book to start them on. That is why I rated it a 4 star, because an adult would find this book one they'd want to read over and over again with their children, especially children who love magic and laugh at silly things like frogs being magically changed.
BOTTOM LINE: For wannabe kid poetry lovers.
______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...
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