A New Beginning

Magic Puppy #1

by Sue Bentley

Lily loves working at Greengates Riding Stables, but she can't help feeling sad that she doesn't have her own pony. Or even her own pet. But when Storm, a golden retriever with sparkling midnight-blue eyes, magically appears, she can't believe it. A wonderful adventure awaits them.

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Dogs, Animals, Magic, Fiction, Middle Grade

132 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Sue was born in Northampton where she still lives. For many years she worked for Northamptonshire libraries and remains a passionate supporter of Public Libraries. Sue loves everything about books, the feel of them, their smell. the way they look. And has a habit of matching a bookmark to the cover of each book she's reading. The process of reading, the feel of the book, carrying it around in her shoulder bag, sitting in favourite cafes reading all make for a complete sensory experience.
Browsing bookshops old and new, talking all things bookish with other book lovers, spending time with other writers and meeting with fans of her own books at author events are her favourite things. That and eating good quality dark chocolate, while writing.

Reviews

[Lizzy]

Honestly liked this much better than the first magic kitten

[Maggie]

This book sure makes me want to have a little puppy of my own - a little golden retriever like Storm! I've always wanted my own pet, just like Lily. Anyone who likes dogs and ponies would love this book.

[Anastasia Bolinder]

this is a wonderfull young reader series that has always tuched my heart <3

[Caelyn English]

it was pretty cool for kids who like dogs and it is very excitting.

[Lara-Sophie]

Zum aller ersten Mal habe ich dieses Buch glaube ich in meiner Volkschulzeit gelesen. Und obwohl ich mich erinnern kann, dass ich es geliebt habe, habe ich nie die drei weiteren Bänder gelesen. Jetzt, einige Zeit später, wollte ich sehen warum ich es so toll fand.

Das Buch hat einen sehr guten Aufbau und sogar einen Konflikt, der darin gelöst wird. Außerdem lehrt es Kinder (indirekt), dass Umweltverschmutzung schlecht ist und dass es Tiere gefährdet.

Sturm ist während der Haupthandlungen meistens ein süßer kleiner Hund mit goldenem Fell und dunkelblauen Augen. Dieser ist aber eigentlich ein Wolf (warum fand ich das als Kind blöd?). Lily ist ein optimistisches und ehrgeiziges Mädchen, das Pferde/Ponys über alles liebt. Sie versucht immer eine Lösung zu finden und in Konfliktsituationen steht’s das positive im Blick zu behalten.

Alles in allem glaube ich, dass dieses Buch sehr gut für Kinder geeignet ist.

[Aubrey]

My daughter is reading level 1 and 2 books entirely on her own, so I read aloud chapter books with her. We started this Magic Puppy series last month, and she *loves* it. Cute story line but simple plot that my 5 year old can follow.

[Jaime]

My 5 year old daughter and me read these books together and she loves them! These our her new favorite chapter books and she can't wait to read the next one! It's magical, funny, and sincere all at the same time! I also let my daughter say how many stars to put for these books!

[Tay Sze]

THIs book is Quite good.

[Yvonne]

Perfect pace for my 6 year old. Just enough suspense combined with a magical theme, made for an age appropriate read.

[Melinda Bialousz]

cute story.

[Marcus]

Five stars because I love puppies and I love magic.

[Ruby]

This was a cute book that is sure to please any dog lover.

[Meredith]

As good as the Magic Kitten series. I look forward to enjoying every minute of every book.

[Alleycat]

it was a cute story.

[Melissa]

What's not to like about a magic wolf?

[Dominique]

This book was A-OK

[Lucy S]

I like magic.

[Maya]

I love it

[Cassandra]

love love love love love love love

[Mae S]

I love it! The magic is awesome

[Rosa Ramôa]

Os comportamentos dos cães variam e estão associados ao temperamento de cada um;)

[Stacy]

My daughter loves these books, she picks one out at the school library almost every time she goes even if it's one she already read.

[shanay clarke]

At my school we have that book

[Lauren]

I like the book

[寿理 宮本]

Hmm, this story sounds familiar!

The basic story is the last wolf cub from a pack casts a magic spell to disguise himself as an adorable golden retriever puppy, then transports himself to another world (ours) to hide from a villainous monster who wants to murder him. Lovely introduction! Anyway, Storm encounters a young girl Lily, whose family is allowing her to help out at a stable on weekends. They have delightfully mundane experiences together (with some mischievous magic when Storm thinks it'll be funny), search for a new home for a new friend's pony that will suddenly lose its existing home, and out of nowhere end up going halfsies on housing costs in order to place the pony at the stable where Lily is helping out... then Storm says, "My work here is done" and peaces out while barely letting Lily say goodbye.

The ending rubs me the wrong way. Sure, Lily got her pony in the end, but the losing a pet (even if it's "just" to interdimensional travel) is a downer, even if it was "fine" because the pony was the one she really wanted. The art is cute, however, although the interior art is cartoony and a completely different feel from the more photorealistic puppy on the cover.

Recommended for dog and/or horse lovers who aren't put off by talking dogs (I have a friend who dislikes Digimon at least conceptually, because he doesn't think they should talk like people).

If you're following me, you may have noticed I cut and pasted my review of Magic Kitten: Moonlight Mischief... well, Magic Puppy is practically the same thing. I even, without looking at anything but the cover, guessed it would have the same beats but replace "big/small cat" with "big/small dog"; about the main difference is Lily gets a temporary horse* instead of a forever non-magical dog the way Eve got a forever cat. I still have one more in this vein in the To Read pile, and I think I'll be a little miffed if that one ALSO has the same beats (but with bunny...?).

*Note: I tagged "horse" because, when I looked up the difference between ponies and horses, I found out that ponies aren't really a different species from horses like I'd first thought, they're just the horses that are still tiny when full-grown. I didn't realise they were the same basic species before! So, shorty horses.

[Maple Class]

I thought it was really good and it's about a magic puppy who's actually a wolf and leader of the moon claw pack but there's a lone wolf called Shadow and he wants to lead the pack but they wait until the magic puppy (Storm) is alive so Storms hiding from him and finding an owner and he helps them along the way.
By Maisie

[Avery]

This came up in my Childrensʻ Lit class and it opened up a memory for me. I remember loving these books but they are not saved on here for whatever reason. I have a book-log gap from about 2014-2016 so i think I would have to find my physical reading logs to place this. But i remember checking these books out from the library.

[Marlee]

My daughter enjoys this series because she loves animals. This one had a couple of funny parts which was nice. These are definitely not great for avid adult readers, but can certainly engage young dog lovers.

[Taylor]

This is a really cute book even though it's for little kids I still love to read them all of the time.

[Hannah]

This is a great book for animals

The Characters are Lily dad & Storm

The setting is that Lily wanted a pony, her friend let her ride her pony

I liked how the author did the cover of the book