Taking the Katie & Kimble series where no ghostly tale has gone before, it’s time for Kimble to make herself at home with Katie’s family! Nine-year-old Katie, and Kimble, the ghost of a ten-year-old girl, find a coupon for a magic wish in a box of breakfast cereal. Their wish leads to all manner of hilarious difficulties, including how to tell Katie’s dad about Katie’s new friend, Kimble, who suddenly appears out of nowhere looking very much like an old-fashioned girl. Can the lonely Kimble find love and acceptance within a human family? Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish is the second book in the Katie & Kimble chapter book series for children ages 7-10, RL3 [Lexile measure: 290L.] — The Katie & Kimble books are funny, engaging and exciting, but are not fear-based. – FROM AMAZON.COM
AUTHOR GUEST POST…Expect the Unexpected
I always like it when readers are surprised by the Katie & Kimble chapter book series. I’ve had that reaction from both moms and kids. One mom, Leanne over at Rave & Review, put it succinctly when she wrote: “Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story takes you to traditionally spooky locations and situations but does so in a lighthearted way that is anything but scary even for young readers…. I really liked that the book was about something very different than I had seen before and the opportunities were huge to engage in good discussions with your kids…about the topics brought up in the book.”
I also heard from another mom who confessed she thought she knew right where this book was going and she wasn’t looking forward to reading it. In the end, she not only admitted to being surprised by the direction the book had taken but to actually enjoying it. Um, thanks?
In Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story, 9-year-old Katie and her family move into an old house out in the country. Katie quickly makes friends with Kimble, the ghost of a 10-year-old girl who lives there, and the two of them set off on a quest to find out what happened to Kimble’s mother.
In the second book, Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish, the story takes on a new life of its own. The girls find a coupon for a magic wish in a box of cereal (where else?) and end up wishing that Kimble could become human again—even though the wish will last for only two days.
That is the first big surprise in The Magic Wish. Readers root for Kimble to be accepted into the Russell family. Katie’s dad doesn’t even know about Kimble, so how will he react when he is suddenly living with a very old-fashioned girl? And what and how will Katie tell him, not being at all inclined to consider telling a lie? And how will Kimble act now that she’s human again? And once the wish is over, what will become of Kimble and how will it affect Katie and her family?
Yes, the Katie & Kimble books are a little different from what one might expect. Another big change is coming soon when a new continuing character, a 10-year-old boy named Danny Garcia, is introduced into the series in the third book, Katie & Kimble: The Golden Door, which will be out in the first half of 2010. Danny is a lively, active boy who meets Katie when he falls out of tree and almost dies. And Kimble just has to know what happened! The Katie & Kimble series embraces a child’s understanding of life, death, family, and what it means to be human.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Linda Thieman (pronounced TEE-mun) writes the Katie & Kimble chapter book series (RL3) and runs the Katie & Kimble Blog (http://www.katieandkimbleblog.com). She is a former English language teacher who has created a set of reading skills activity packets and classroom materials that teachers and homeschoolers can download from the Katie & Kimble Blog free of charge. The materials correspond to the first two books in the Katie & Kimble series and are guided by the national standards set for third grade reading skills. Linda lives in Sioux City, Iowa.
FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…Thanks to Linda Thieman for coming back to The Book Faery Reviews to be a guest poster and for sending my daughter and a copy of the second book in her Katie & Kimble series for a future review in January. You can read what we thought of her 1st book in the series HERE. In the meantime, I will be hosting a book giveaway that will run now through the end of December (12/31/09). ONE commenter will be randomly selected and notified via e-mail. The winner will have 48 hours to reply back with their mailing address (No Restrictions) or it goes to the next person.
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I am so glad the book’s not fear based because that was gonna be my first question. My daughter is 8 yrs old and does not like scary things at all.
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I’m an email subscriber.
As an aspiring teacher, this book seems great for kids. It looks friendly and not at all scary.
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I follow you on twitter. @Melanie_Vautour
I tweeted about your giveaway. http://twitter.com/Melanie_Vautour/status/7197872005
I would like to ask Linda how she came up with the idea for this book. I know my 6 year old daughter would enjoy reading this.
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
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Tweet! Tweet!
http://twitter.com/NancyeDavis/status/7258960433
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Thank you, Farrah, for running such a great giveaway!
To Nancye,
Congratulations! I used to teach English as a Second Language and I wrote fiction at the same time. So the combination of low-level English for adult learners and loving to write meshed into writing for kids. At first, my sister and I were going to do short rhyming books together and Kimble was going to be kind of an imp who caused a lot of trouble. But then, as the story evolved, she became a much more fleshed-out character and I realized I’d have to do a chapter book to contain a more complex story. At that point, my sister dropped out.
I think you are right that this would be a good fit for your 6yo. It’s not scary, but it does hold the attention well (it’s exciting and funny) and we’ve had a lot of 6yo readers who especially have enjoyed the books as read-alouds.
Linda Thieman, author
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story
Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish