Be Careful What You Wish For!

I think the story is good because Max thought fast, not hard and strong, so he didn’t always get what he wanted, and it would make a huge disaster. Like when he wished for a real dog he got a real dog, just a crazy one. But when he wished for it to go away, he made his mom and sister so unhappy they wanted to cry. When he wished for a nice real dog, he found his dog again and this time around she wasn’t so crazy (or as ugly as he thought the first time). That made Max happy and his mom and sister were happy, too!

I found the story  interesting because of the fun use of the boy’s imagination. Some words were hard and some were easy. There were hundreds of paragraphs. But I liked it a lot.

From a parent’s perspective, the book is good because it is challenging, and it has a good moral: be careful (and specific about) what you wish for! Our son is an advanced reader for his age and he finished the book within about a week.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Life is unsettling for young Max.  His parents have divorced,  he’s moved to a new part of town and is often bullied at school. As an escape from the chaos he feels at home or simply to leave boredom behind, Max uses his Adventure Time (daydreaming) to have all sorts of exciting escapades with a dog named King.  Somehow though, Max does not end up with King, but with a very different dog whose devotion to her adoptive family is eclipsed by their love for her.