Probuditi!: A Humorous Tale About Magic, Hypnosis, and a Little Sister Who Becomes a Dog for Kids

by Chris Van Allsburg

For his birthday, Calvin’s mother gives him two tickets to see Lomax the Magnificent (magician and hypnotist extraordinaire!). Even though Mama hints that his little sister, Trudy, would love to go, Calvin doesn’t hesitate to invite his friend Rodney instead.

The boys return home greatly impressed by the magician’s performance. When Calvin’s mother goes out, she leaves him in charge of Trudy. It’s a job Calvin dislikes because his sister does not want to be left out of anything. So Calvin and Rodney include her—by making her the first subject for their own hypnotizing machine.

Much to the boys’ surprise, the machine works. But unfortunately they cannot undo what they have done. Trudy is stuck in her trance, convinced she is a dog—panting, drooling, and barking at squirrels. The only problem is, Calvin can’t remember Lomax’s magic word—Probuditi!—so Trudy won’t snap out of it!

The boys are worried and decide to take Trudy to the one man they know can solve their problem—but will Lomax help them? Mama is on her way home . . . Who will have the last laugh?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy, Humor, Magic, Family

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Chris was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 18, 1949, the second child of Doris Christiansen Van Allsburg and Richard Van Allsburg. His sister Karen was born in 1947.

Chris’s paternal grandfather, Peter, owned and operated a creamery, a place where milk was turned into butter, cream, cottage cheese, and ice cream. It was named East End Creamery and after they bottled the milk (and made the other products) they delivered it to homes all around Grand Rapids in yellow and blue trucks.

When Chris was born, his family lived in an old farm house next door to the large brick creamery building. It was a very old house that, like the little house in Virginia Lee Burton’s story, had once looked over farmland. But by 1949, the house was surrounded by buildings and other houses. Chris’s father ran the dairy with Chris’s three uncles after his grandfather Peter retired.

When Chris was three years old, his family moved to a new house at the edge of Grand Rapids that was part of a development; a kind of planned neighborhood, that was still being built.

There remained many open fields and streams and ponds where a boy could catch minnows and frogs, or see a firefly at night. It was about a mile and a half to Breton Downs School, which Chris walked to every day and attended until 6th grade, when the Van Allsburg family moved again.

The next house they lived in was an old brick Tudor Style house in East Grand Rapids. It was a street that looked like the street on the cover of The Polar Express. The houses were all set back the same distance from the street. Between the street and the sidewalk grew enormous Elm trees whose branches reached up and touched the branches of the trees on the other side of the street. Chris moved to this street with his mom, dad, sister, and two Siamese cats. One named Fafner and the other name Eloise.

Chris went to junior and senior high school in East Grand Rapids. He didn’t take art classes during this time. His interests and talents seemed to be more in the area of math and science.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

My nephew died laughing at this book and it might be one of his new favorites. A brother goes to a magic show where a hypnotist hypnotizes a woman to act like a chicken. The brother goes home and makes a machine to hypnotize his sister. He tells her she is a dog and this is where the trouble starts. It’s fun at first and then the brother doesn’t know how to make his sister a girl again.

The nephew wants to build this machine and hypnotize us all. The wheels in his head were working. He said he’ll turn me into a squirrel. I asked him why and he said, “So the dog can chase you.” He laughed at the story and wanted to know if hypnotism was real. He gets these ideas in his head. He gave it 5 stars.

The niece thought there were funny parts in it. She said that her brother could never hypnotize her. She wasn’t worried. She gave this 4 stars.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

After attending a magic show, young Calvin manages to hypnotize his little sister . . . into believing she's a dog. It seems a cruel trick, but the joke is on Calvin when he can't snap her out of the trance. Will he be able to make her stop barking at squirrels before Mama gets home?

A fun story, highlighted by Van Allsburg's always amazing artwork!

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Coldecott Medal-winning author of such beloved storybooks as JUMANJI and THE POLAR EXPRESS comes another whimsical story in the form of PROBUDITI! With beautiful illustrations and a premise that any child will love, this is another storybook that's sure to please.

When Calvin receives two tickets to see Lomax the Magnificent, a famous magician and hypnotist, for his birthday, he knows just who he'll take with him--and it's not Trudy, his little sister.

With his best friend, Rodney, Calvin watches Lomax perform some amazing magic, most memorable of which was hypnotizing a woman in the audience and having her believe she was a chicken. When the boys return home, they decide they'll make a contraption to hypnotize someone--and who better to experiment on than Trudy?

But when Trudy really starts acting like she's a dog and the boys can't snap her out of it, Calvin starts to worry. And when things don't go as planned and he misses out on his special birthday dinner, the giggles he got from seeing his sister bark and walk around on all fours turns into anger. Especially when he finds out that hypnotism might not have been behind Trudy's dog act, after all.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Van Allsburg's hands, all stories become magical. This one is a strange little one, but very satisfying.

It's Calvin's birthday...and besides all his favorite foods for dinner, he recieves tickets to a magic show. He does NOT take his sister, as their mom hints. He takes his best friend Rodney. They watch the famous hypnotist, Lomax the Magnificent and have a great time.

At home, they are to watch Calvin's little sister, Trudy. But they decide they, too, are magnificent and will hypnotize Trudy. They have a great time with their new 'puppy' Trudy, until the spell refuses to wear off...even the magic word, "probuditi" will not work!

And mom is coming home! And Trudy is a puppy! They're desperate...and desperate kids are Van Allsburg's favorite kind of kids.

Gentle illustrations for this story set in the past...I loved the fact that Calvin is African American and Rodney is white, but there is no mention in the words...just two boys who play together, tease together, and get caught in troubles of their own making together.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the book's press release: " . . . . in Van Allsburg's hands, even the solid ground of a small town is magical. "Probuditi," pronounced pro-boo-dih-TEE, is a Serbo-Croation word that means 'awaken.'" Loved the surprise twist at the end. And can't seem to get the word out of my mind.

[Megumi Shavers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is labeled as science fiction and is for children in the age group of P. This book did not win any awards, but this author is has won awards. He is most known for Jumanji and The Polar Express. This book is about two young boys who see a magician and hypnotist extraordinaire for one of the boy's birthday. After they leave the show they think it would be funny if they could hypnotize one of the boy's sister. However, after they do it, they realize that they cannot turn the sister back to normal. So they try different methods to try and change the sister back to normal before their mother finds out. The first thing that caught my attention was the artwork. The pictures remind me of s story that took place in the 60's. The pictures alone could tell the story without the text. Thats how well the pictures were illustrated in this book. Unlike most books this book was illustrated in sepia and not color. I found this story a little humorous at the end. It kind of leaves a mystery of whether the sister was really hypnotized or not. The plot was easy to spot and could be a lesson for children. I think boys and girls will like it. Boys will like it because it shows the curiosity that most boys have after they see something they want to try. Girls will like it because the sister actually threw them off with her last statement in the book , “ Know what else I like, that ice cream I had this afternoon. Chocolate chip's my favorite.”

[Riven · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Probuditi!’ by ‘Jumanji’ and ‘The Polar Express’ author Chris Van Allsburg is the story of a boy who goes to see a magician and uses the mind control techniques he witnesses to hypnotise his sister. A race against time subsequently follows as the boy and his friend try to find the magician so they can get the magic word to snap his sister out of her trance before his mother gets home.

The story, set in 1940’s America, does view the period with rose or I should say brown tinted spectacles however the interesting and warm chocolate coloured art does convey a sense of the era and the heat of a long hot American summers day.

The book is gripping, all be it with a fairly predictable ending, and documents the relationship between siblings that the majority of children will be able to relate to. I feel the book could also provide a good starter point for cross curricular study in areas such as Geography and History.

This is a good value book which should fit nicely into Key Stage 1 learning whether it be used as part of lessons, guided reading or simply as a book that the more advance readers can enjoy on their own.

[Chrissy Muller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had such a surprising ending! I would have never guessed how things would finish up! This aspect made me like the book so much! One thing I didn't like, however, was how some of the pages would begin mid-conversation. That took a bit of time to actually figure out what's going on. Although I liked the illustrations, I did not think that some of them really tied in that well with what was going on in the story at that point. This book seemed to be set some time in the past, possibly the 60's, but it never stated where the setting was! That was also something I did not like very much. The gist of this story was a little girl getting revenge on her brother for pulling a prank on her, and this would appeal to many children because I'm sure most of them have siblings that they pick on, or that pick on them! That being so, this story would appeal to many of my future students.

[Mayra Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a boy that on his birthday he gets tickets to a show of a magician and hypnotist. Two friends go to the show and are amazed with the show. They decided to build a machine and test it on his sister. They were surprised it worked but they couldn’t get her back to normal. The hypnotist used a word, but they couldn’t remember. They tried many things until they decided to wet her and make noise. His mom found out and got in trouble. At the end the sister went to give him something to eat and asked what the machine was, he told her that he was hypnotized. When one is hypnotized one doesn’t know what happened but then the girl says something that happened when she was supposedly hypnotized. So the girl tricked her brother.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Chris Van Allsburg and we checked out a handful of books from the library last week. This one was new to me.

I don't know what the deal is with me and covers lately, but I didn't like this one either. The title gives you no clue about the content of the story and the picture really doesn't either. The chicken-dancin', garter-showin' lady is kind of funny, but I would have chosen the picture of the magician on the left side of that same page or one of the sister doing dog-like things.

Anyway, the story is OK. Kind of funny. There's a kid named Rodney in it. Not the mysticalish, mysterious, classic Van Allsburg stuff I love.

[Courtney Barter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probuditi! features Calvin on his birthday. He visits a hypnotist with his friend and decide they can be hypnotists. They hypnotize Calvin's little sister. But soon, their mother will be home! What do they do!? Fun book with yet again, AMAZING illustrations by Chris Van Allsburg. Illustrator Project Book #2

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story.
I withheld a star because hypnotized Trudy is creepy to look at...

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too funny! Loved this story!

[Katherine Loyacano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probuditi is a delightful picture book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg. For his birthday, Calvin receives two tickets from his mother to attend a performance of Lomax the Magnificent, a famous hypnotist. Calvin and his friend Rodney enjoyed the show so much that they decide to make their own hypnotizing machine and test it out on Calvin’s younger sister Trudy. The boys are excited when Trudy becomes hypnotized and thinks she’s a dog; however, their delight is short-lived when they are unable to reverse the hypnotism. And, Mama is on her way home to prepare Calvin’s birthday dinner.

Probuditi is humorous, clever, and beautifully illustrated. It’s a tale about brothers and sisters, friendship, and the joys of being a kid. I love the boys’ sense of adventure and their mischievous nature; however, I also love Trudy’s willingness to be included in their hypnotizing experiment and matching wits with them. Like many of Van Allsburg’s stories, there are twists and turns with a show stopping performance at the end.

[Virginie Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather than Van Allsburg’s typical otherworldly, unexplainable magic, in Probuditi!, the magic comes in the forms of a magician and pranks. We meet Calvin, who loves pranks and magic, and we watch a magician dazzle Calvin by hypnotizing someone and making her do silly things (Van Allsburg’s illustrations really shine on these silly pages!). Calvin creates a device to hypnotize his little sister, Trudy, commanding her to act like a dog. Unfortunately, Calvin and his friend can’t remember the magic word required to break the trance. In typical Van Allsburg fashion, he drops his twist of fate at the very end, leaving both my 3- and 5-year-old girls and my former third graders laughing hysterically (this is typically recommended for ages 6-8, but can absolutely go younger or older). Probuditi! would be a huge hit with any audience, especially with children who like to play jokes on others.

[Tyler Schoening · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probuditi! is another charming, magical book by Chris Van Allsburg. It is the story of a little boys birthday gone awry. After receiving two tickets to a magic show Calvin and Rodney attempt to pull one of the tricks on his sister. The hypnotism backfires as they realize they forgot the magic word to change her back and they wander the city trying to find the magician for help. Unsuccessfully they return home and decide to shock her back. Soaking her and frieghtening her just as the mom appears she snaps out of it and runs crying to her arms. Calvin is sent to bed without his birthday dinner only to be told she had not been hypnotized the whole time.

The story carries good meaning, along with being funny and entertaining. The escapades of the boys as they deal with the hypnotized sister are goofy and she is comedic. And the art is compelling incredibly large and drawn with great detail. It is very much a tale of treating others how you wish to be treated. As Calvin is not very kind to his sister (as most older brothers are) pranking her, not inviting her to things, and generally displaying annoyance for her. Finally, she gets the last laugh faking her hypnotism eating the boys ice cream, spoiling her brothers birthday dinner, but ultimately spending his birthday with him. It has a lot to show young students about caring for others and the consequence that can occur when you don't take others feelings into account.

[Kraken_libri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cosa dire di questo volume, oltre a trasportarmi in un epoca lontana e trasmettermi nostalgia, pagina dopo pagina non è altro che un susseguirsi di vicende esilaranti.
Il protagonista è davvero un birbantello soprattutto nei confronti di sua sorella a cui piace fargli spesso degli scherzi.
E anche questo doveva essere solamente uno scherzo, come finisce ovviamente non posso rivelarvelo ma posso assolutamente garantirvi che non solo è stato inaspettato lasciandomi a bocca aperta ma è stato anche talmente esilarante che non ho potuto fare a meno che ridere e compiacermi della risvolta.
Le illustrazioni sono stupende, non conoscevo questo autore e posso assolutamente garantirvi che è stata una piacevole scoperta.

[Nancy Mosqueda]

Chris Allsburg's "Produditi!" is a fun story detailing the adventures of a boy, his friend, and sister after having hypnotized her. On his birthday, after having been given tickets for a magic show by his mother, the boy decides to hypnotize his annoying sister into believing she is a dog. Throughout the day, he attempts to bring her back to be herr annoying self and so he takes her to the magician, who is gone. In the process, she devours their ice-cream. In the end, he finds out that she truely was not hypnotized and that all the trouble he got into trying to bring her back was for nothing because the whole time, she had played him.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

With his grainy yet expressive pictures and compact story, Mr. Van Allsburg crafts a witty, short story of a naughty boy’s prank that backfires.

Calvin should treat his little sister Trudy better. But, from the very first page, he gives her grief even though it’s his birthday and his Mama has warned him once about good behavior. But it’s Trudy who has the last laugh.

Anyone who has ever been made the butt of a mean-spirited practical joke by a sibling will appreciate Trudy’s revenge on her older brother. Mr. Van Allsburg has once again captured what makes a family tick…and sometimes explode.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazingly illustrated book by Van Allsburg. A boy goes to see a hypnotist on his birthday, then decides it would be fun to hypnotize his little sister. It was a fun, fun book and I loved the ending.

[Haaley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this story. It was fun and the illustrations were nice.

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another twist on the ideas first put forward in Jumanji. Typically, yet again, another excellent Van Allsburg. And as always beautifully illustrated.

[Manu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mama: 5 stars: fun book w great illustrations. Not typical children’s book like his other book we read “bad day at river bend”

Leila: 5 stars:

Maxwell: 1 Star: why? It made me so hungry

[Jessica Simmons]

For Calvin's birthday he gets two tickets to see the magician Lomax the Magnificent with his friend Rodney. There the two friends witness hypnosis and, upon returning home, decide to try the intriguing (and hilarious) phenomenon on Calvin's little sister Trudy, who Calvin loves to prank. At first, the hypnosis works great--Trudy thinks she is a dog! Once they've had their fun, Calvin and Rodney decide to say the magic word and snap Trudy out of the trance. The only problem is that they can't remember the word!

I have only recently heard of Chris Van Allsburg, but after seeing some of his illustrations, I was dying to read one of his books. Probuditi! was a good balance of wicked, sibling-fooling fun and wonderful, retro graphite/charcoal drawings. I have read that Van Allsburg is interested in presenting the magical in the context of the ordinary, and his illustrative style (the graininess, the era, the expressions) led in that direction. I will definitely be picking up another Van Allsburg book soon.

I would enjoy having Probuditi! in my classroom library because kids will love the funny facial expressions, the class can discuss how we treat other people (like siblings!), and the plot twist at the end of the book would make for good practice of predictions and inference. This is a fun story that I could see adapting for various purposes such as math or science. For example, I could make up word problems for math about different techniques Calvin and Rodney used to try to snap Trudy out of the trance, how far they traveled to find Lomax, or how long their mother was gone.

[Gatto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun book about two brothers who make a hypnotizing machine. They hypnotize their sister into thinking she is a dog. Antics ensue and they scramble to fix the situation before their mom returns home.

The story is great. There are paragraphs of reading, so I would recommend the book for mid-upper elementary and beyond. The pictures are are interesting. They are all white, brown, and black, but they feel vibrant with the scenes. They're great.

For classroom use, I would stop short of the end with students and have them write how the story resolves.

[Alecia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My children and I enjoyed this book and the twist at the end which led to some good questions for me to ask the kids. I've read a couple of Chris Van Allsburg's books complete with his amazing illustrations (Jumanji, Polar Express, The Wretched Stone) but this book reminded me that I really need to read the rest.

[Lauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspired by a traveling magician, a boy hypnotizes his sister to act like a dog. When he can't remember the magic word to cancel the hypnosis, he and his friend set out to find the hypnotist. Mama comes home while he is breaking the "spell," and he misses out on his birthday dinner. His sister doesn't even remember any of their adventures - or does she?

[Nitoy Gonzales · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting a great read from Van Allsburg but this one is not. I get confused on who where the one speaking and to whom. The premise is good but how it played out, it didn't go well. Plus the color brown of the artwork didn't help the book to stand out. I know the story will have a predictable ending but Van Allsburg executed it well.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I don't think the cover is very appealing to children. At least the camp group today did not select it.

However, I personally enjoy this story with a twist ending where a younger sister gets the better of her older brother.