HOUDINI CARINI

A girl learns that practice makes
magic in author/illustrator Zadek’s (Monsieur Pierre, 2017, as Anne
Dana) picture book.

Houdini Carini, the Caucasian
daughter of stage magicians, can’t wait to be a magician herself. But when her
parents give her a massive magic-trick encyclopedia, her first thought is,
“This will take WAAAY too long.” She decides to perform a card trick, but
instead of practicing it, she rehearses taking a bow; her resulting performance
produces card chaos. Undeterred, she picks out another trick for show and tell,
but lack of preparation results in hamsters all over the classroom; one of
Zadek’s brightly colored ink-and-watercolor illustrations shows humorous
expressions on the children’s faces. After another half-understood trick floods
the streets with water (in a wordless, two-page spread), Houdini is miserable.
She then accepts her mother’s challenge to master a trick from the
encyclopedia’s beginning, and she finally realizes the value of practice.
Overall, young readers will find Houdini’s enthusiasm relatable, and the
expressive illustrations reveal both her actions and her emotions; they also
show an array of different skin tones for secondary characters. For kids who
are eager to jump into activities with both feet, the protagonist’s struggles
with starting small are sure to ring true, and her hard-earned success is worth
celebrating.

A clever, vividly illustrated book
about learning from mistakes.