Jennifer Murdley's Toad by Bruce Coville Children's fantasy book reviewsJennifer Murdley’s Toad by Bruce Coville

This may well be my favourite of the MAGIC SHOP books, a series of standalone stories that feature a young boy or girl entering Mr Elives’ Magic Shop and leaving with a strange artefact of some kind — one which will have taught them an important life-lesson by the end of the book (though not before causing them a heap of trouble in the interim).

Perhaps the best thing about the series is that each book is surprisingly different in tone. For instance, Russell Troy, Monster Boy (published in the US as The Monster’s Ring) was a comedy/horror, whilst Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher was a coming-of-age tale about a boy and his magical pet. In contrast, Jennifer Murdley’s Toad is a straight-up fairy tale.

Our protagonist jennifer has self-esteem issues when it comes to her physical appearance, and she’s running from a gang of bullies when she happens upon a store she’s never seen before: Elives’ Magic Supplies. By the time she leaves, she’s in possession of a talking toad called Bufo — and things only get stranger from there.

As she copes with the demands of her surprisingly conceited new pet, other obstacles emerge: a toy telephone that rings by itself, the owner of a beauty salon that seems deeply interested in Bufo, and the involvement of Sharra, the most popular girl in school whose prettiness makes Jennifer miserable.

Bruce Coville manages to incorporate plenty of elements from familiar fairy tales, such as the girl who was cursed to spill toads, snakes and other nasty creatures from her mouth, a wicked witch searching for eternal beauty, and of course — the consequences of sharing a transformative kiss with a magical toad. It turns out to be a surprisingly twisty story, with revelations concerning secret identities and magical abilities that I didn’t see coming.

Much like Shrek, Jennifer doesn’t get a magical makeover at the end of the story, and in his afterword Coville points out that to do such a thing would diminish the spirit of the book. Instead, what Jennifer gains is confidence and assurance, making this a valuable book for any young reader.

Jennifer Murdley, a homely fifth-grader who would give anything to be beautiful, accidentally stumbles into a magic shop and purchases a very ugly toad. The toad, it turns out, can talk and ends up getting Jennifer into the worst trouble of her life. This madcap, head-spinning adventure is also a thought-provoking story about the nature of true beauty.

fantasy book reviews science fiction book reviewsBruce Coville Magic Shop Books 1. The Monster's Ring 2. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher 3. Jennifer Murdley's Toad 4. The Skull of Truth ( Charlie Eggleston's Talking Skull) 6. Juliet Dove, Queen of Love Bruce Coville Magic Shop Books 1. The Monster's Ring 2. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher 3. Jennifer Murdley's Toad 4. The Skull of Truth ( Charlie Eggleston's Talking Skull) 6. Juliet Dove, Queen of Love Bruce Coville Magic Shop Books 1. The Monster's Ring 2. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher 3. Jennifer Murdley's Toad 4. The Skull of Truth ( Charlie Eggleston's Talking Skull) 6. Juliet Dove, Queen of Love

Outside the US, The Monster’s Ring may be published as Russell Troy, Monster Boy and The Skull of Truth may be published as Charlie Eggleston’s Talking Skull.

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Author

  • Rebecca Fisher

    REBECCA FISHER, with us since January 2008, earned a Masters degree in literature at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Her thesis included a comparison of how C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman each use the idea of mankind’s Fall from Grace to structure the worldviews presented in their fantasy series. Rebecca is a firm believer that fantasy books written for children can be just as meaningful, well-written and enjoyable as those for adults, and in some cases, even more so. Rebecca lives in New Zealand. She is the winner of the 2015 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best SFF Fan Writer.