Marjorie and Nick are not the brightest of children. They befriend a talking bird and think nothing of it. Clearly they are not able to see the distinction between birds that talk in the form of mimcry and birds that are having a conversation with you. Maybe all children think a parrot or starling could fly over for a nice chat? I don’t know. They accidentally stumble (or tumble) into a witch’s home and experiment with a few spells and magical hijinks ensue. When the starling appears and confesses she is really a witch, they seem genuinely surprised. It’s somewhere around here that you learn the witch is evidently not the brightest of witches. She has turned herself into a starling by accident and does not know how to undo the spell. Not to ruin the surprise or anything, but it turns out to be something fairly simple that the children discovered during their magical fun time.
I don’t know if kids will mind the level of simplicity to the problem and solution. Since Chew’s books are best for a younger audience, it’s quite possible that they will not mind.
Also at this point, it’s fair to say that many of Ruth Chew’s books follow a fairly simple brother+sister+magic+Brooklyn formula. Kids will enjoy the consistency, and having both the brother and sister as main characters, although parents, expect the boys in the books to do the fighting and the girls to be older and more responsible.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – There’s a reference to beer cans littering up the lake.
Frightening or Intense Things – Only some mild magic related tension.
