A creator of the wildly popular Ologies series, A.J. Wood matches talents with author/illustrator Jo Rioux (Cat's Cradle series) in The Wizard's Guide to Magical Experiences, a playful, interactive title for "wizardlings" (wizards-in-training) in which science and magic are one and the same.
"Wizarding can look like magic," Wizard Wood of Touchwood Academy of Magical Thinking explains, but it's actually all "chemistry." Forty kid-friendly experiments are divided into 12 sections (like "Experiments with Water" or "Magical Matter") that all use household supplies to guide wizardlings through interactive observations of chemistry. Practitioners can "Move Water to Your Command" (learning about principles like immiscible mixtures) and "Make a Color-Changing Potion" (based on the pH scale) using practical steps, safety tips, and spells ("Aqua calfacio!"). The book is gorgeously packaged, including gold foil, a 30 mm embedded jewel, and paper novelty elements; Rioux's charming illustrations feature pages packed with features to investigate as well as several children modeling the experiments in cozy fantasy settings. Inquiring minds of all ages will likely want to reproduce the magic. --Cristina Iannarino, children's book buyer, Books on the Square, Providence, R.I.