Well, "School of Slime" was a huge pile of doo-doo, but this second book in this series is practically on par with the opener, a lively, quick and nicely moralistic drama. Maggie gets to see some stuck-up relative believed with a bare-faced lie, and so decides to never tell the truth again, if she can help it. Meanwhile, she's forgotten about a certain homework project. But hey ho, magic and her own inventive bending of the truth will surely come to help her out, won't it? Easily read, quite relatable, and a much more rounded narrative than the one that follows it, this is still commendable stuff.

Maggie Sparks would be a normal little girl, if it wasn't for the fact she is from a family of wizards. She goes to a regular school and tries hard to keep her magic hidden. Only her best friend knows her secret. Maggie's dishonest cousin initially gets her into trouble and when Maggie fails to complete a homework project, she tells a lie to get an extension. Maggie feels that lying could be the answer to quite a few of her problems, until she has family help completing her project and finds she can no longer lie!
This would be a great first chapter book for readers making the move from picture books with short chapters interspersed with lots of illustrations. I'll definitely be adding this to the collection in my classroom and looking out for others featuring the same characters.

Maggie is a darling little witch who loves for things to go her way. When everyone believes her cousin Ella, who is lying, over Maggie, who is telling the truth… Well, let’s just say that leads Maggie down the wrong path and causes her all kinds of problems. This is a great read for young children. The illustrations are beautiful, and the story is easy to understand and fun to read while also teaching a lesson. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

I decided to give this book a read because it sounded cute and I’m on the lookout for books my kids are able to read.
I loved the lesson in the book, the actions seemed very realistic for both the child and the parents. The small magical aspects make it seem more fun for young readers as well.
I definitely think I’ll have to get some of these books for my daughter.

This is a wonderful story for children. I read it to my daughter and she couldn’t get enough of it. She loves the truth dragon

nice story to show the consequence of lying without being dramatic. it's realistic and everyone, even the adults, behave as they should. loved the cute illustrations too!

I read this book with my 8 year old and 10 year. Both loved the message about telling the truth and enjoyed following Maggie's story. I would recommend this to others.

Thank you to the author for the copy in exchange for my review.

Sweet, hilarious, and prompt story. There are many real-life things and incidents that Maggie Sparks, the cute through her actions explains in a witty way.

The colorful and thoughtful illustrations are an add-on to the story.

Cute chapter book with an important message. Mistakes were made and lessons learned. I am excited to introduce students to this book.

A charming story for younger readers, but with a really strong message behind it. Maggie decides that it is not worth telling the truth, after her cousin tells a lie and gets Maggie into trouble. The problem is that once you tell one lie, you have to keep on telling more, to cover up. This is a great story but it can act as a focus for discussion with young readers. Excellent for the KS1 classroom.

So I picked this book up as a review on NetGalley and it's adorable! Definitely something I could see my 6-year-old reading in the very near future.

Maggie gets in trouble when her not-so-nice cousin tells a lie. Nobody believes Maggie when she tells the truth so she decides she's going to start fibbing. Oh, and she's a witch, did I mention that?

As Maggie starts telling more and more fibs, they spiral out of control and it takes her grandpa's help to set things straight. Maggie almost loses her best friend over it!

I loved this book. The pacing, the illustrations, and the story line. I'm looking forward to sharing this entire series with my daughter and seeing her reactions to Maggie.

This was a cute story about telling the truth and how lies can quickly get out of hand. I especially loved the illustrations in this book. They were very sweet and brought life to the characters. I think this would be a great series for readers branching into chapter books, especially those that enjoy a hint of magic and humor with their stories. I look forward to reading other titles in this series.

The story is about a little girl named Maggie, who is just a regular, cute little girl, apart from the fact that she comes from a wizard family.

Maggie is upset that she is punished for telling the truth, and then she begrudgingly decides to only lie from now on. From there starts some funny turn of events and Maggie eventually learns that telling the truth is the best.

Not only was this engaging and funny story, I liked that it had a good lesson along with it.

What's different here was that almost every story I grew up reading about moral values, it was about your good deeds getting you rewards, like the story of the woodcutter, which was about honesty is the best policy.

Here, the story sends the message that honesty is the best policy by letting on the fact that escaping web of lies become harder when you start lying, and you feel worse after some time. People close to you will choose not to trust you, and I think this is such an important lesson for children to learn.

Sorry for the long review, the book was wonderful. The illustrations were very cute and attractive, adding life to the story.

5 stars, definitely recommend.

Thank you so much for Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.
This is such a cute story to teach kids about honesty.

Loved this! Very easy to read & an entertaining story for the little ones. I was anxious to see how Maggie was going to get herself out of his downward spiral. Thanks for the copy!

A huge thanks to Sweet Cherry Publishing for my complimentary copy and all opinions expressed are mine

The book follows Maggie (an adorable little girl ) who while playing with her cousin Ella encounters a sad event. While playing with Ella who get's hurts and blames Maggie which leads to Maggie deciding that t telling lies is the best way, so she spirals into a liar. It's a lesson filled book about how lying is bad and how the truth is the right way to live. Every adult, child and child at heart should read this book not only for the beautiful illustrations but the lesson. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Sweet Cherry Publishing for the chance to read and review this book prior to release!

This was cute, but I wish the pictures were available in color for review!

I think a lot of kids will really enjoy this one.

When I pick up children’s fiction, I am primarily looking at three things.
The vibe: Vocabulary, illustrations and characters: They must appeal to kids, and more so to the child inside the adult-me.
The lesson: There has to be at least one take-home message. Not because I like preachy books. No. But because all the madness and word building must have a purpose.
Recall value: I find kid’s literature is a storehouse of the deepest truths written on paper, in the most digestible manner. And each time I read the book, I have a new insight. The characters and the storyline are nuanced.

While books meant for very young kids might not have all of the above simultaneously, I find the great ones always do!

Maggie Sparks is a nice kid, with a loving family consisting of her parents, her younger sibling, her pet Bat who is not a bat but a chameleon and her Grandpa- who is more of a friend. Arthur from school is her best friend. Also, Maggie happens to be a supersmart witch.

Trouble starts when Maggie decides she is going to stop being truthful. And this is because, on a visit to her uppity Aunt’s family, her cousin gets away with her lies, while the truthful Maggie is chided.

So Maggie begins lying, against the wishes of her pet and her best friend. She lies at home nd at school. And gets away with it. Well, almost. Just that one lie leads to another, and it really starts to get out of hand.

That is when her Grandpa, who is a smart old wizard himself, intervenes. And Maggie discovers how lying takes a toll on you, even if it brings rewards. What about the dragon mentioned in the title? Oh, yes, he is in the story too, but the story would have been the same with or without him.

The premise is a good one, and a real one too. Life seems to reward ‘bad people’ and punish the good ones. But in the end, truth triumphs. This one has been told endless times before,in stories for kids and adults alike; and cannot be stressed enough. It must be retold, in different settings. The book does a good job too.

The characters are interesting. Simple, believable and lovable. But for a greater part, they are inadequately explored. The conflict is also mildly touched upon. This book could have been an excellent tool to highlight the ramifications of lying, even for kids. But it leaves most of that territory unexplored.

What impressed me most were the illustrations. There are many, and all of them take the story further. In fact, younger kids could recite the story by looking at the pictures, after having had the story read aloud to them.

The short length is apt for young readers. It will retain their interest.

This book is clearly and strictly for kids, perhaps upto 8 years of age. It offers little for the adults reading it out.

Do I recommend the book? Yes, but strictly for very young kids. Not for adults and to-be-adults-in-less-than-a-decade.

The book mentions another title- Emily sparks and the school of slime. Maybe if you find your kid is captivated by the illustrations of this book, you should lay your hands on the other book.

Overall: ☆☆☆☆☆(5.0)
Writing style: ☆☆☆☆☆
Entertainment ☆☆☆☆☆
Characters ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot: ☆☆☆☆☆
Ending:☆☆☆☆☆

First and foremost, I would love to thank Net-Galley, the author, and publishers for allowing me the opportunity to obtain an ARC copy of this novel for my honest opinion and review.

I would additionally like to add that this book was read and reviewed alongside my 7 year old son.

This was his 1st chapter book and I think it certainly will pull him in to want to read more! The storyline was awesome, with such a wholesome lesson. The characters were absolutely adorable, and the issues that they face are real issues that any child may face: Not feeling heard, wanting to tell a lie, losing a friend, and needing to determine how to fix mistakes we have made.

This book was absolutely top notch from beginning to end, and we both thoroughly enjoyed reading it together. We look forward to finding more novels by this author about Maggie Sparks!

Super cute book for kids with a great lesson on why not to lie. It's a lesson every child should learn to take with them into adulthood where peer pressure can encourage lying.