Reviews & Testimonials

This is a perfect book for every elementary classroom. Maxwell teaches students that there is “a bit of magic” in all of us. Teachers can use this book to have students take a closer look at their classmates and find the good…a fun way to build classroom community… This book has it all! It is a great book to use with PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports) and a true mentor text for reading and writing. My second grade class has enjoyed it every time we have read it and it is a book they read in groups during any free minute in the day. 5 BIG stars!!!
Yvonne Mullen, Educator

Something about Maxwell stuck with me. I woke up one night thinking about the line “I think there is a bit of magic in all of us, we just need to find it.” What a great statement. I felt there was so much more to it. So I made up the little cards (You will see them in these pictures, click here.) and had my students write what they thought the magic inside each of their classmates was. We talked about how sometimes it is hard to see the good inside of us…but so easy for others.

I collected the cards, sorted them and put them into the purple envelopes. The next day I reread The Magic of Maxwell and His Tail (I teach my students that good books are meant to be read over and over.) to the class. Then I got out the envelopes with their names on them. One little boy commented, “Mrs. Mullen I can’t even breathe I am so excited to see what my classmates wrote about me.” I handed out the envelopes and you could have heard a pin drop in a class of 30 second graders. I wish I could have captured their faces. Each student was glowing. Quietly I began to hear them whisper across the room to each other…”Aubrey, thank you so much!”, “McKenna what you wrote is my favorite.” or “Aidan I never knew you thought I was a good friend.”

I left them with this advice…”When you go home, put your envelope of magic under your mattress and whenever you feel alone or question what your magic is…read your cards.”

Thank you so much for writing The Magic of Maxwell and His Tail. I have been teaching for 19 years and the watching my students read about their magic is one of those moments I will always remember.
Yvonne Mullen, Huntley Elementary School, Appleton, WI

In today’s world of assorted, sad, and serious anxieties, The Magic of Maxwell and His Tail , is a needed, effective, and appreciated prescription. Children, adults, and seniors (I’m 101 years old), will read and re-read these lovely Maxwell heroic escapades will be subjected to abundant smiles, laughs, and doses of empathy.
Herb Berkowitz, Former President of Supermarkets Interstate (Subsidiary of JC Penny)