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Title: Magical Matthew, Magical Mea
Genre: Children’s books
Author: Penelope Anne Cole
Website: http://penelopeannecole.blogspot.com
Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing
Purchase
link: http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com
SUMMARY:
Matthew
has a secret. In Magical Matthew, a young boy with magical powers secretly fixes
things for his family and friends. Later, Matthew expands his magical
good deeds by fixing things in his neighborhood. His close friend Lily suspects something is special about him. Worried
that Lily will guess his secret, Matthew confides in Grandma Nonie. Should he
share his secret with Lily? Matthew must decide whether to tell her the
truth or not.
This is a sweet story about using your gifts and
talents to help others. It also deals with differences, challenges, and changes
as one grows up.
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Excerpt
At
age four, Matthew knew he had a special talent.
When he played with his toys and one broke, he would just look at it and
wish it fixed. And it became like new
again. He knew then he had the gift of
magic.
From then on, he got very good at finding
broken things and fixing them. If his
Mom’s watch stopped working, later it would be working again. If his Father’s favorite pen wouldn’t write
in the morning, it would write again in the afternoon.
If a tire turned up flat in the morning,
Matthew could often fix it before his Dad even saw it. Like the good elves and fairies, Matthew
delighted in fixing things. But he
didn’t tell anyone his secret. He knew
grown-ups didn’t believe in magic. They
probably thought their eyes played tricks on them, since later things worked
fine.
But Matthew would smile, look in the
mirror, and say to himself:
“Magic me, magic
me.
What do I see
when I look at me?
I see a boy with
a magic mind
To fix broken
things like new,
To make things
nice again, too
That’s what I
see when I look at me.”
He kept his secret to himself; his magical
gift to his family.
Matthew had a friend, who lived next door,
named Lily. They had known each other
since preschool. She had a lovely voice
and smile, and she made him laugh a lot.
They enjoyed spending time and playing games together.
Matthew had tried to fix Lily. But he couldn’t. No matter how hard he tried to picture her
walking, she couldn’t walk. Then he knew
his magical powers could only fix things.
Lily asked why he sometimes stared at her
very intently, but Matthew said he liked to look at her and didn’t tell her
about his secret.
However, Lily noticed that things worked
better with Matthew around. Her
wheelchair didn’t ever get stuck when they went places together. She didn’t hear any squeaks, or rattles, or
other odd noises from her chair. In
fact, everything seemed to work better with Matthew there.
Things
didn’t break. Toys looked like new. Everywhere they went looked nice.
One day they hurtled down the street, her
chair hit a crack in the sidewalk, and the wheel came loose. But then, quick as a wink, it tightened right
up. And the crack in the sidewalk
smoothed over when they passed on by.
That’s when Lily knew Matthew had magic in
him. She decided to watch him very
closely after that.
About the author:
Before
writing and reviewing children’s books, Penelope Anne Cole taught every grade
level. She tutors elementary, middle, and high school students. Reading
Ms. Cole's Magical Matthew (2012) is the first in her Magical series. Magical Mea is second (2013). Mágico Mateo (2013) is the Spanish Version of Magical Matthew. Next is Magical Mea Goes to School, with Magical M and M to follow. Magical Matthew won a Readers' Favorite Bronze Medal, Creative Child Magazine’s Book of the Year Award, and NABE’s Pinnacle Book Achievement Award. Magical Mea won Creative Child Magazine’s Preferred Choice Award, NABE’s Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, and was a Readers' Favorite Finalist.
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