Wee Granny's Magic Bag

K-Gr 2—Emily and Harry love to go places with Wee Granny. Her tartan bag is always full of surprises, especially outsized, unexpected objects just right for the situation at hand. When they go to the park, the woman's phone begins to ring. She reaches into her bag and out comes a full-size, old-fashioned phone booth. The call is from the children's mother, who needs extra cupcakes for the school fair. Next thing the kids know, supplies, ingredients, and an oven pop out of the bag. After the baking is done, Granny admits that she's forgotten the kitchen sink, so they wash the dishes in the lake. The children ask her if she'll be coming to the fair and she reaches into the bag and pulls out Bert, a donkey. Donkey rides turn out to be the hit of the event. In the end, Harry asks Granny if the bag is magic. She says, "No, I just like to be prepared." The ink and watercolor illustrations are quite funny. They keep the matter-of-fact tone, even as more and more outrageous things keep coming out of Granny's small bag. This is a pleasant title for youngsters just starting to understand the concept of preposterous things.—Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI

'Whatever the need or emergency, Granny can meet it. It's all in the bag ... What she can pull out of the bag defies reason, and that's the source of the fun.'
- The School Librarian

'This is a pleasant title for youngsters just starting to understand the concept of preposterous things.'
- School Library Journal

'Bogade's homey, cartoonlike illustrations offer plenty of expressive detail and gently comic moments... A simple, affectionate story that will undoubtedly meet with demands for repeat readings - Scottish brogue required.'
- Booklist Online

'If you have, or can put on, a Scottish accent, this book will be terrific for you to read aloud with great gusto...This is a very funny story about two children and their amazing granny who you will be as fond of as they are by the end.'
- EYE: Early Years Educator

'McKay writes with a cheerful tone... The pacing is nicely done, dancing along happily. The story has a gentleness to it as well that is warm and friendly. Bogade's illustrations are done in ink and watercolor. They have a merriness to them as well, filled with bright colors and playing up the effect of pulling huge items from a small bag. The humor of the entire work is well reflected in the images.'
- Waking Brain Cells blog

'My daughter thinks this story is hilarious and even though she knows what is in Wee Granny's bag she laughs out loud every time we read it... Maria Bogade's beautiful illustrations bring the characters to life and the last item to come out of the bag was impossible to guess on the first reading!'
- Story Snug, UK book blog

'This is a very funny story!'
- Jessica, age 4, Story Snug, UK book blog