Story of Gumluck the Wizard

I started this book expecting another fun silly early chapter book to add to my recommendations repertoire. However, as I read I could not pull myself away from this lovely (still very silly!) little story about Gumluck and Helvetica. By the ending, I was so enthralled with the book that I immediately bumped my library order up from 1 copy to 2 so that I can booktalk it more readily to the schools I visit. The illustrations are so full of life despite being sketches, and I think children of all ages will love this one. I plan to bring it to 2nd-5th grade classrooms to catch all different levels of readers. Highly recommended.

I originally picked up this book because of the cover and the author, but I stayed because the story was great! I loved the inclusion of some black and white sketch like images with the story. It made the story really pop and allowed me to imagine the story better.

I loved the pair: Gumluck a naive and kind wizard who appreciates friendship and wants to help everyone and the raven who has a more cynical but honest perspective of the world and life. They balance each other well. The chapters introduce little topics and some are great to discuss such as good lies vs bad truths.
I loved the illustrations and the short story overall. It's very cute. It's not about what people decorate you should do or be but being honest with your true self.
Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the eARC.

This goofy little wizard doesn’t seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer. The place he lives doesn’t appear to respect him and he encounters some silly characters. His greatest wish to be a hero may come true.