Anton Can Do Magic

Anton’s magic hat really can make things disappear, at least to Anton. The oversized orange turban falls over his eyes, leading him to believe he’s turned his friend into a bird. Superb interplay between the short declarative sentences and the cartoon-style illustrations allows the true story to take place in the spaces between the words and pictures.

Anton's magic hat really can make things disappear, at least to Anton. The oversized orange turban falls over his eyes every time he puts it on. Readers will see what Anton cannot, that first a bird and then his friend Luke have disappeared by leaving the scene on their own. The bird returns as Anton works his magic on Luke, leading him to believe that he has accidentally turned his friend into a bird. He covers the bird with his turban just as Nina and Greta enter the scene with an empty bird cage, looking for Greta's lost bird, and Luke comes with them. Anton is able to make the bird reappear as if by magic, but this time, like readers, he understands the illusion. It's only a matter of time before he'll be pulling rabbits out of that turban. The static horizon, simple black lines, and big round heads on the characters make Anton and his friends look like they might live around the block from Charlie Brown. There is a superb interplay between the short declarative sentences and the cartoon-style illustrations that allows the true story to take place in the spaces between the words and the pictures, and in the connections readers need to make in their own heads. kathleen t. horning