Magic Thinks Big

Takes a humorous look at the enigmatic nature of cats.

Author: Elisha Cooper Illustrator: Elisha Cooper Pages: 32 Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books Published Date: 04/17/2004 Genre: Fiction - Picture Book HC Price: $14.99 Publisher's Recommended Reading Level: 3 up Read Aloud: 3+ Read Alone: 6+

Common Sense Note

The book takes a humorous look at the enigmatic nature of cats and the nature of imagination. We all know that inwardly focused, feline look, but what are cats thinking? Are their thoughts big and wild, or are they gazing mindlessly? This is a subject that has been pondered in many books for children and adults, and yet with each new take, it remains fresh. Magic?s story is a perfect jumping off place for discussing the world of imagination with young children.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Marigny Dupuy

With a cat for the main character, minimal text, and beautiful watercolor artwork that conjures up a summer day in Maine, this droll story is well-suited for very young children. While being still like a cat may not come naturally to children, they certainly know about the power of the imagination. They will be amused following Magic on his imaginary adventures, but may need to have it pointed out that he, in fact, never moves an inch. The solution to his dilemma of whether to act or not to act is a foregone conclusion.

To make this appealing story even better, there is a photograph of the real Magic on the back cover. Magic "weighs eighteen pounds, and he likes strawberries and sitting by the lake." This book will be a treat for cat lovers.

From the book:
Magic contemplates his next move.
Should he go in?
Or out?
Or should he stay right where he is...
Hmm ... maybe he should just stay in the doorway
and nap.

Plot Summary:

Magic the cat is quite rotund and very still. Sitting neither in nor out of the doorway (or both in and out of the doorway), he ponders what to do next. Without moving a muscle he considers a variety of actions ranging from getting more food, to chasing loons on the lake, to an adventure involving catching a salmon and riding on the back of a moose to bear?s island to pick blueberries. Not surprisingly, because he is a cat and utterly content simply to be, he does none of the above and remains exactly where he is, sitting peacefully neither in nor out of the doorway.