The text, by Jack Prelutsky, is spare but would be a great read-aloud. The true magic of this book is in the illustrations. The double-page edge-to-edge graphics have rich colors. My only slight quibble here is with the wizard's treatment of the poor unsuspecting bullfrog. After he turns the frog into different objects and returns him to frog form, he makes the frog vanish "midway through a frightened croak." Children might feel sad about the frog's fate and need to be reassured that, although the author didn't say so, the frog most certainly was sent back to his pond and thereafter lived a long and full froggy life.