The Art of Magic was a lot of fun! It's aimed at a younger audience but I still enjoyed it a lot! ZuZu's first summer without her best friend is looking meh until she meets ther new kid Andrew at the historic Mapleton Mansion. Together they stumble upon some enchanted art supplies and discover that the shapes they draw and paint can come to life.! Sounds pretty cool and fun but of course monsters start showing up because someone else knows about this ability and is using it in a sinister way. It's cute and light read to relax. Highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley for giving this opportunity to read this ARC.

The Art of Magic was a lot of fun! It's aimed at a younger audience than I usually gravitate to for middle grade (that's on me, not the book!) but I still enjoyed it immensely. The magic system was one I hadn't encountered before, which I think will be a lot of fun for young readers, and the main character was relatable and likable. I would definitely recommend this book to middle school readers!

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Rating : 3.75 out of 5
Blurbs :
ZuZu's first summer without her best friend is looking pretty grim, until she meets new kid Andrew at a visit to the historic Mapleton Mansion. Together they stumble upon some enchanted art supplies and discover that the shapes they draw and paint can come to life. Their creations are harmless—but ZuZu and Andrew aren't the only ones with access to magic. Soon, nightmarish half-machine, half-living creatures begin appearing around town, controlled by a power-hungry "caster" with a sinister mission. It's up to ZuZu and Andrew to use their newfound abilities to protect their community.

Thoughts :
Cute and lovely! I love Zuzu and Andrew! Highly recommend if you like middle grade book! Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Looking for a magical tale about good versus bad with a touch of monsters and loads of fun? "The Art of Magic" is the story for you! Meet Zuzu, navigating life's twists and turns—new friends, a dash of mystery, and valuable lessons about friendship and healing. This book is perfect for young readers seeking magical adventures. It's a solid 3-star read, offering enchantment, though a bit more depth could have made it even more spellbinding. Overall, a delightful addition to any bookshelf! 🌟📖

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Perfect fantasy for middle graders! This story was infused with so much magic and encouraging themes like making friends and not judging others by their looks, my heart feels so full. I love that the magic was centered around the arts (music, clay, art like painting and drawing) and unlike anything I've read before. It was like a breath of fresh air with its wholesomeness.

This book captures many of the challenges of growing up and all its insecurities. The main characters and even secondary characters are relatable and the obstacles they faced can give many learning experiences on how to overcome them.

A sweet, magical tale about music and art. This is the kind of book I wish I had when I was a child. It would've become my entire personality for quite some time. With the right tools, certain magically attuned people can bring to life their most beautiful or terrible dreams to life. I'd recommend this to any child with an interest in the creative arts and fantasy, or anyone who has ever wished they could bring their art to life.
The Art of Magic is free of violence and profanity and appropriate for any child grade 2 and up.

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This was so cute and creative. Perfect for middle school ages. It had a great story line and held my attention the entire time

"The Art of Magic" by Hannah Voskul is the story of Zuzu and her friend Andrew whom stumble upon magical art supplies one day while at a school picnic. These art supplies lead and assist them on a quest to defeat an evil entity that is trying to exact his revenge on their hometown by creating musical creatures called "auditons" to do his bidding. The question is will Zuzu and Andrew's "visitons" be able to save the day?

This book was a charming early middle grade read with important lessons such as forgiveness and the power of friendship entwined in a fantastical and fun story. As an adult reader, however, I did not take away much from this book. I do feel as though young readers may enjoy and relate to the drama that unfolds, but as an adult I found the reasons behind the bad actions of the antagonist to be eye-roll worthy. Although this was a cute read, there also seemed to be some plot holes and places where the authors explanations seemed overly convenient. Again, I am reading this with an adults perspective and do not feel that this would impact a child's reading experience.

Overall the world was somewhat intriguing and drew me in at the beginning of the story I just feel as though some of the themes were too black and white and straight forward for older readers to truly be immersed in the story.

2.5 stars

This book was such a delight and treat. I've been trying to read more middle school books because why not and I definitely wasn't disappointed. Voskuil's imagination is vivid and the world that she creates is so beautiful. I find myself to be very fond of this book because it focuses on the magic of music and fine arts, especially as someone who has always leaned this way when it came to school. I believe that this book will resonate with many young readers and the author is able to articulate the conflict and intent in a way that is extremely accessible but still packs a punch. I definitely will be recommending this to my niece.

This is a book I would have loved to read as a child. Magic, monsters, good versus evil. Zuzu is feeling out of sync with her life. Her best friend has moved away, her young brother is annoying, and to top it off, she falls victim to a prank which leaves her heart even more hurt. Her parents want her to jump back into life in their small town with art lessons at the local historical mansion, and also to join the swim team; things which used to make her happy, but Zuzu would rather nurse her wounds alone. A chance encounter brings her face-to-face with a new friend, and a huge pile of magical mystery soon follows. Zuzu finds herself at the center of good against bad, and she learns valuable lessons about herself, about friendship, and how nursing and feeding hurts can have a detrimental long term affect on the direction life leads a person.

Simple, filled with fun, monsters and a lot of magic, this is a good book to share with young readers looking for stories about magical realism

What I loved most about The Art of Magic< was how much imagination and creativity went into creating the magical auditons and visitons. The style and process of using magic in this book was delightful, creative, and innovative. I loved how Voskuil introduced the magic initially, explained the draw of only certain magic sensitive people, alluded to historical uses of magic, and explained the 'harmonic principle' of magic all while keeping the reader engaged. ZuZu and Andrew must, and I mean MUST, work together to succeed or risk the fate of their town.

The Art of Magic captures many of the challenges of growing up, like the pain of being separated from a friend without any say when their family moves, or understanding that sometimes people are trying their best to do what is right and good, but just not quite hitting the mark. Secondary characters like ZuZu's brother, Banjo, bring the magic to life in their own ways and force ZuZu to evaluate her priorities and give others the benefit of the doubt. I enjoyed their amicable sibling relationship.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ of five stars for it's middle grades audience

The Art of Magic is a joyful reflection on the magic of childhood friendship and a great book for its target audience, late elementary to early middle school ages; however, I would also recommend this as a fun quick read for an adult looking for light-hearted joy.

The Art of Magic by Hannah Voskuil is a must read for anyone who ponders the possibility of magic in the real world. It’s a delightful middle grade read and I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for a fun, magical adventure.

Hacve you ever wanted to do magic, that is real magic? I did. I thought it would be so “neat.” ZuZu was missing her best friend. Her family had moved far away. ZuZu.’s mom is taking her to visit the historic Mapleton Manor for a picnic because it is raining outside. She has always wanted to explore the house. While her mom is busy, ZuZu sneaks upstairs and goes into a room. Thinking that she will be alone, she finds a boy in the room. He says hi and tells her his name is Andrew. She tells him her name when someone knocks at the door. She hides as the door opens. It is ZuZu’s mom. She asks if he has seen a girl. He says no. ZuZu and Andrew find a hidden space that has two mysterious tins in it. There is a note saying ito take it. They hesitate but each takes one. When ZuZu gets home, she discovers that they are paints. Andrew crawls on a tree branch to see ZuZu. He tells her that his tin has pens. They discover what they draw comes to life because the art supplies are magic. They decide to go back to the house to see if they can find out what causes their art to come to life. They meet Martha and finds out that her brother is planning something bad to happen in the very near future. Martha says she needs their help to fight her brother’s bad plans. What does he plan to do?

It is an enchanted fast paced adventure. It’s spine-chilling magic at times. Besides being about friendship, magic and monsters that are auditrons (monster robots). It is also about Chron’s disease and loss of a friend.
I found the book fascinating due to the friendships being created and how magic was used in this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

ZuZu is not excited to be starting summer when her best friend has just moved away, and she has been bullied by her classmates. Then she and her new neighbor Andrew stumble upon a set of magical art supplies. While they learn about the amazing possibilities of magic, they also find out that their whole town is in danger, and only they can save it.

I really enjoyed this whimsical middle grade novel! I thought the magic system was really creative, how each art form can create magic, especially when used cooperatively. I loved all the magical creations the children come up with. The action and conflict were gripping. I really enjoyed the relationships between the characters, both friendships and family relationships. I would have a liked a little more character development for all of them, even the villain.

If you love middle grade fantasy like I do, then try this is sweet, magical story!

This MG fantasy novel centers on friends: Zuzu and Andrew, as they discover that they can make art and bring it to life. Kids who love Rick Riordan will gobble this up, and kids who love art. The main character is in third grade, which may skew the audience down in age a bit- but we need lower middle-grade icons too!

As an artist myself and a fantasy lover this one really appealed to me. The characters were fun, the story was great, and while I thought the villain and his flunkies were a bit lame ~ I mean, it's a middle grade novel (and on the younger side, I think), so I'm not going to dock for that!

I liked how much of ZuZu's brother the author included in this book as well.

Anyway this was a cute concept and I liked how everything played out, so this is a win for me. I'd rec it for younger readers easily and may keep it on the backburner for my niece once she's old enough.

The shared dream that so many of us seem to have growing up has come to life in The Art of Magic. Zuzu and Andrew meet by fate's touch at a haunted mansion while on a school function. Hidden behind a wallpapered panel they discover a paint set and a case containing pencils along with a note saying “If you found these, they are yours”. What starts as two curious new friends taking home their treasures turns into a adventure where they must work together to create magic creations to protect their home.
The plot is clever with the details and ideas of how creativity is imbued with magic. It gives the reader the feeling as if anything they draw, paint, or write could come to life just as in the story. One of the most endearing parts of The Art of Magic is Zuzu learning from the creations. The qualities that she admires in her creations are qualities she already possess and just isn't aware that they are there. By painting them and working with Andrew to bring them to life, she is essentially manifesting them into her every day life in a physical form that she can see.

I respect the simple yet mature prose that's used throughout the book. It's a good combination of styles that gives the aura of the author respecting the reader's intelligence even “if they're young”. Her ability to balance creativity with digestible content is on display here. The creative descriptions of the creations is pure child's imagination. Carefree and fully embracing what it means to allow your mind to dream.
The only critique I can make here is on certain word choices. Occasionally there would be a word that seemed to be rather mature for a younger reader in that I felt might throw me if I was the target audience. It didn't happen too often but on the occasion that it did I was thrown for a moment or two before I moved on. It could be countered that we learn new words by reading them and figuring out what they mean this way which is fair point to make. It's one minor critique on an overall wonderfully written prose.

There is something nostalgic about the characters! Maybe it's just that I can see myself in both Andrew and Zuzu, or that their instantaneous friendship reminds me of my own closet friendships that I still have today. Zuzu is a rather shy yet inquisitive girl who is reeling from the sudden “loss” of a friend as her best friend moved away. She's actions are reserved, but her creativity isn't and she is very clearly a loving person. Meanwhile Andrew is outgoing and instantly open with others. He is also clever and creative like Zuzu. They understand one another and that's the start of their bond. They bring out the best in each other and their differences work to help the other grow for the best. Andrew challenges Zuzu's bravery while Zuzu brings color and different perspectives to Andrew's life.
Even the “bad kids” are shown to not be entirely bad or good. Instead they are kids who are complex and not what they seem at a surface level. Voskuil does a wonderful job of focusing on that especially in a book aimed for a younger audience. It's an important lesson that we can't always assume the worst in others and it also makes the characters in the story multidimensional.
This same kind of wonderfully penned dynamic extends to Martha Maplton and her brother Chester. They are both very different from our two main protagonists, however it is easy to see how either Andrew or Zuzu might mirror them. Martha is kind and outgoing, ready to teach out of a place of passion and love for the art of magic. Whereas Chester's motivations are purely selfish and focused on what he considers slights that were made against him decades ago. Their history doesn't feel far off or implausible and instead it's very clear how their relationship has turned into what it is.
There are interesting parallels with Andrew dealing with medical issues when we know that Chester fought an illness as well. But while Chester's personality turned sour and cruel, Andrew remains kind and earnest to do good. A similar parallel can be drawn between Chester's anger and hurt towards the kids he grew up with those who played unkind pranks on him to the same anger and hurt that Zuzu has for those who pranked her at the beginning of the book. These direct mirrorings of the characters works to establish a deeper connection and understanding that while we can face similar situations that aren't fair, we do have a choice in how we decide to handle our reactions.

This book is marketed as a Children's to Middle Grade audience, and while I whole heartedly agree that this book is wonderful for that age range, I would be remiss to not recommend this to all ages. Which is why I've rated this as Middle Grade and Young Adult appropriate. I will be recommending this to all my friends regardless of their ages.

The Art of Magic is a thrilling and entirely magical reading experience that inspires creativity.

A must read for anyone who loves the possibility of magic in the real world.

Zuzu has had trouble making friends, especially after her best friend moves away. She meets a new friend at the end of the year school picnic and together they find art supplies that will lead them on a journey of a lifetime. Zuzu is gifted with a magical paint set, so she paints her little brother, Banjo, a protection monster. Imagine her surprise when it comes off the page! Her new friend Andrew also discovers his pens do the same thing. When the two objects are combined, they make living illustrations. I have never wanted a monster of my own so badly than I do after reading this book.

They find through their art that there is more to magic than meets the eye and soon the two are caught up in a whirlwind of trying to save their town from a spirit determined to rebuild himself after death and wreak havoc on the bullies who tormented him in a prior lifetime.

The book took a bit for me to get into but I read it pretty much straight through after that. I got swept up in the creations of Andrew, Zuzu and eventually Banjo. Again, the star of this book is the furry monster just because I want one now.

Super delightful middle-grade read, though some of the auditions (the bad monsters) in the book be a bit scary for younger audiences.