The Magic Sky

by Lucy Richards

One night at bedtime, Rory's mother tells him all about the "magic sky." The little polar bear is so excited to see it. But how long will he have to wait? The magic sky that Rory sees is a real phenomenon. It is called the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights and can be seen in the Arctic and far northern hemisphere. The dazzling lights appear to move across the sky like natural fireworks. As they turn the pages of The Magic Sky , children will delight in the loveable polar bears and marvel at the glittering rainbow colors of the Arctic light show.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals

32 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[Chloe Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Magic Sky written by Lucy Richards is one I had from when I was a child. I remember loving the illustrations. I read this story to a year 3 class when I was volunteering at a school and they seemed to enjoy it. It is about a polar bear called Rory who is desperate to see the ‘magic sky’ (Northern Lights) and keeps asking his mum when he can see them. It reminds me of a child who is desperate for Christmas. Parents can also relate to this part of the story and even the children. Rory keeps himself busy during the days with different things such as fishing with his dad until the magic sky appears. The dialogue is repetitive in some places which the children can join in with. Children could guess what the polar bear gets up to until the magic sky appears. The children could also relate to their own experiences too. You could get them to guess what the magic sky is. The magic sky is the Northern Lights which I made a poster of to go with the book to show the children after I’ve read them the book. You could relate the story to science and geography. As well as doing art work around the Northern Lights. Children could do some descriptive writing or poetry around the Northern Lights and the Artic. Also they could write letters to Rory to ask what they were like. In Maths the children could plan a trip to see the Northern Lights and how much it would cost.

[Kenzie Bloomer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover page and the northern lights is textured which creates a touch element of the story that most pupils would like to feel. The end pages has information about the northern lights which highlights the facts behind the 'magic sky' which is quite important as not to create any misconceptions. There is chronological order through the young bear being impatient and demanding to know how many days till the northern lights can be seen which could be used to create writing pieces such as a diary entry in free writing times or in lessons. The book also highlights the importance of not walking off on your own in case you get lost (perhaps discuss the bear's actions as a class - was it a good or bad idea?)

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely book about a bear who wants to see the magic sky (northern lights). The story is very calming and the colours the illustrator used for the images adds to this. The drawings are also very soft which make them nice to look at. When the bear finally sees the lights the page is a different texture with lots of bright colours, this contrasts the rest of the book, adding excitement to the page. This would be a good book to read to KS1 or FS children after break or at the end of the day to help to settle the children.

[Peggy Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute illustrations. The book really seems to be more about patience than it does about the "magic sky" though. The little bear is told he can view the magic sky after five more bedtimes - which is quite a long time to wait. We only have one page of the Northern Lights - with glitter. I bought the book because of the accompanying cd for my son to listen to the story whenever he wants - so he really doesn't have to be all that patient.

[Shinta_read · Rating 4 out of 5]

cerita sebelum tidur yang sempurna. pada rori yang enggan tidur, ibu rori berkata beberapa hari lagi mereka akan melihat langit ajaib, jadi dia harus tidur cepat. nah rori yang penasaran setiap hari bertanya, kapan? jadi ada repetisi, ada berhitung sederhana, ada rasa penasaran, laluu ... sehabis itu ada si langit ajaib alias aurora. indah sekali. dan endingnya tidur, deh. hehehe. bagus dibaca bersama anak. :-)

[Alane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fave of my daughter's. She likes the repetition and anticipation. She hates that we live too far South to see the northern lights.