Make Magic! Do Good!

by Dallas Clayton, Dallas Clayton (Illustrator)

Overview

From from an exciting new face in children’s literature, Dallas Clayton, comes a book of illustrated poems full of wisdom, wonder, and whimsy.

A boy with a beard tries to stay six forever. A frightful monster lives a million miles away, but is equally scared of you. A magic rope hangs from the sky, next to a sign saying "Give me a try." In this brightly illustrated selection of playful, often provocative poems, ideas run the gamut from stopping your lightning-fast running to help others keep up, imagining a store that sells colors never before made, or admitting you’ll never know all the answers (and sleeping better at night). Following the runaway success of his self-published debut, Dallas Clayton’s quirky, captivating collection makes it clear that this rising talent, whose work has evoked comparisons to Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, and Shel Silverstein, exudes a spirit and style all his own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763665890
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	04/23/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Dallas Clayton was hired in 2009 as the editor-in-chief of We Love You So, an art magazine founded by director Spike Jonze, designed to tie into Where the Wild Things Are, Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book. He is an active philanthropist, having founded the nonprofit Awesome World Foundation in 2009. The foundation has sent books to charitable causes around the world and also gives away books at Dallas Clayton's classroom readings and book tour events. He has a son with actress Shannon Sossomon (A Knight's Tale) and lives in Southern California.
Dallas Clayton is known for his vivid use of colors, powerful themes, out-of-the-box-thinking, and magical wordplay. He has carved out quite a path for himself in a very short period on the book scene, earning big-name celebrity endorsements as well as multiple brand collaborations. Dallas Clayton makes his home in Los Angeles, but can be found touring the world relentlessly, reading to kids from preschool to college age, painting murals, playing music, and spreading his message of the importance of following your dreams.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Clayton succinctly delivers a number of behavioral tips looking to foster kindness, generosity, courage and spontaneity in the next generation.
—Kirkus Reviews

This is an uplifting read, a little wonder that speaks of the magic and good in everyone and the importance of following one’s dreams.
—School Library Journal

Each of these poems overflow with joy and optimism.
—GeekDad (Wired.com)

Editorial Reviews

To get a sense of the tone of this poetry collection from Clayton (An Awesome Book!), look no further than the illustration note on the copyright page, which says the artwork was "done in two parts positive vibes and three parts watercolor rainbow sprinkles." Recurring themes in the nearly 50 poems include seizing the day, making friends of enemies, being kind, and blazing one's own trail. "ou won't be fast forever/ so the clever thing to do/ is to stop and help the others keep up/ because someday/ they'll be you," writes Clayton in "Running!" while "You Never Know" cautions, "Be nice to your friends,/ 'cause you never know/ when you'll be stuck/ in ten feet of snow/ with nowhere to stay/ and nowhere to go." What keeps the collection from sinking under its own good intentions are Clayton's illustrations, which are whimsical but not saccharine, and his sense of humor, which peeks through in poems like "The Breaks," in which a bear claims he broke his leg "just walking," before outlining the laundry list of daredevil stunts ("I jumped off a roof/ and onto a bike...") that accompanied said walk. Ages 7–up. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Clayton succinctly delivers a number of behavioral tips looking to foster kindness, generosity, courage and spontaneity in the next generation.
—Kirkus Reviews

This is an uplifting read, a little wonder that speaks of the magic and good in everyone and the importance of following one’s dreams.
—School Library Journal

The brilliant drawings are rendered with images that are playful and cartoon-like. This collection will bring laughter.
—Library Media Connection

Kids love poetry. The beat and flow of a rhyme is mesmerizing. A lot can be packed into a mere 15 lines—thoughts on friendship, reflections on life, or simply the silliness of a moose driving a caboose. Clayton penned this whimsical collection to send a message to children—take a chance, be silly, follow your dreams and welcome adventure.
—USA Today

Filled with silly, poignant prose as well as cheerful, bright illustrations, Make Magic! Do Good! is a great way to introduce poetry to little ones in a fun, smart way.
—About.com Parenting

Contains a joy that is hard to deny. Read this and watch the positive vibes flow.
—100 Scope Notes

Each of these poems overflow with joy and optimism.
—GeekDad (Wired.com)

From the Publisher

.K Up—Clayton's work continues to grow and be infused with love and artistry. The imaginative life of his poems is reminiscent of Shel Silverstein's work. There is no sacrifice for the sake of rhyme; each one is just right and there's plenty of wisdom and humor. In "Xavier Xing Xu," Xavier is disappointed that the world doesn't contain more words like his name so he sets about finding friends to help "make it an art/to change all the S words/and put X at the start." The results are quite funny. Roughly hewn mixed-media drawings of pig-nosed unicorns, furry fleas, dragons and turtles, whales and giraffes support the warm, light tone. Wise advice is gently handled in a short verse that considers how it may not be best to be first: "second place may do just fine/in a race to hug a porcupine." Clayton wants to "share his happiness with you." This is an uplifting read, a little wonder that speaks of the magic and good in everyone and the importance of following one's dreams.—Teresa Pfeifer, Alfred Zanetti Montessori Magnet School, Springfield, MA

School Library Journal

Indie best-seller Clayton (An Awesome Book!, 2012) offers this light collection of didactic verse for young readers as his traditional-publishing debut. Accompanying these short lyric poems are Clayton's own free-wheeling illustrations done with "two parts positive vibes and three parts watercolor sprinkles," making for two-page spreads that give these potent messages added levity and much-needed breathing room. Many of these works make no bones about driving home clear imperatives like those found in the volume's title piece: "Make magic / do good. / Be who you are. / Be what you should." But Clayton's more compelling poems are those that are downright silly--"Did you hear about the race? / Hooray! I came in second place. / And second place will do just fine / in a race to hug a porcupine"--or whose lessons are slightly muted, as in "Butterfly": "If you find a caterpillar / and you keep it in a jar, / just think of how your life would be / if you weren't where you are, / if someone put you in a bowl / or in a tiny box / or in an old aquarium / filled with shiny rocks." While Clayton succinctly delivers a number of behavioral tips looking to foster kindness, generosity, courage and spontaneity in the next generation, his poetic touch is sometimes heavy-handed. Let the effervescence in the pictures leaven the didacticism of the poems. (Poetry. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews