Review by Booklist Review
One morning a girl finds a wish. The only rule is, No wishing for more wishes, so she must choose carefully. She contemplates her personal dreams: a blue ribbon at a horse show, a trip to Japan, real ballerina pointe shoes. She asks her friends and teacher for advice. After much thought, she realizes she does not need any wish to fulfill her own dreams. Instead, she wishes for everyone's wish to come true. The final pages are full-color, double-page spreads showong one friend, who uses a wheelchair, playing with a new puppy; her teacher moving into a house; and another friend welcoming his military-father home. Wishes, imagined and granted, are depicted in full color. The remaining pages are black and white except for the glowing yellow wish. Told in the first person, the story is directly personal and visually dramatic. Pair this with Cat Wishes (2018), by Calista Brill, and Thanku: Poems of Gratitude (2019), edited by Miranda Paul, to explore gratitude and finding what we really want.--Suzanne Harold Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2--A young girl finds an extraordinary gold coin in the grass with the words, "NO WISHING FOR MORE WISHES" on it. She realizes instantly that this means one wish is permitted; no more, no less. Her "perfectly perfect wish," therefore, must be extra special. The choices are many when she considers the things she personally craves, like a blue ribbon at the horse show, a trip to Japan, or real ballerina pointe shoes. She realizes that these things seem trivial compared to the wishes her good friends truly need: a home of their own, a father back from war, and even a puppy. When she extends her wish to the others, this transforms and elevates it into a sublime "perfectly perfect wish." The yellow glow featured on each black-and-white spread at the beginning of the story lends it a magical quality, followed by the picturesque explosion of color that follows when each wish is envisioned and then becomes a reality. The colors completely fill the page when the wheelchair-using friend gets a yellow dog, the movers deliver a couch to the other's first-ever-new-house, and the third is granted his wish for his father to return home from war. Children may notice that, technically, the "one" wish is really "three" separate ones, but this is a relatively minor flaw given that the "one" is given away as an act of goodwill. Overall, the message is one worth savoring: a truly perfect wish is often one--or more--extended toward others. VERDICT A satisfying storytime read-aloud about the gift of giving and sharing.--Etta Anton, Yeshiva of Central Queens, NY
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