Reviewed by Me for Kids @ TeensReadToo.com

From the Coldecott Medal-winning author of such beloved storybooks as JUMANJI and THE POLAR EXPRESS comes another whimsical story in the form of PROBUDITI! With beautiful illustrations and a premise that any child will love, this is another storybook that's sure to please.

When Calvin receives two tickets to see Lomax the Magnificent, a famous magician and hypnotist, for his birthday, he knows just who he'll take with him--and it's not Trudy, his little sister.

With his best friend, Rodney, Calvin watches Lomax perform some amazing magic, most memorable of which was hypnotizing a woman in the audience and having her believe she was a chicken. When the boys return home, they decide they'll make a contraption to hypnotize someone--and who better to experiment on than Trudy?

But when Trudy really starts acting like she's a dog and the boys can't snap her out of it, Calvin starts to worry. And when things don't go as planned and he misses out on his special birthday dinner, the giggles he got from seeing his sister bark and walk around on all fours turns into anger. Especially when he finds out that hypnotism might not have been behind Trudy's dog act, after all.

My kids loved this story. My son thought that hypnotizing his little sister sounded like a great idea; my daughter felt that her big brother missing out on his birthday cake was great payback.

Mr. Van Allsburg has written and illustrated another wonderful storybook that kids of all ages are sure to enjoy. Kudos! ( )

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Appropriateness: Primary/Intermediate
Review: This book is a good example of realistic fiction because the narrative presents a true depiction of life for two siblings. The conflicts present are ones that readers can relate to. Calvin goes to see a hypnotist extraordinaire on his birthday and after he and his friend decide to make a hypnotizing machine. They use the machine on Calvin’s little sister, Trudy as their first subject. The machine works and Trudy is convinced she is a dog. Now, they have to snap Trudy out of her trance before the mother comes home.
Media: This book is a good example of crayon and charcoal because there are no obvious abrupt lines like one would see with pen or pencils. The figures are more defined with the shading and the images have a softer appearance.
Characterization: Calvin is a round character because he encounters a conflict, which is always watching over his little sister. He has always disliked babysitting his sister, so on his birthday he uses her in one of his experiments. Readers are able to relate to Calvin and become more connected to his character as he experiences the conflicts in the book. ( )

Calvin likes to play practical jokes on his little sister, until she plays one back on him. Fantastic, typical Van Allsburg illustrations in sepia tones, heavy in double page spreads with inset text. Pictures accurately portray the action and characterization of the kids. The text in this story, however, is disjointed with poor transitions in the action. Recommend for any picture book collection and for independent readers up to a 1st grade reading level. ( )

Chris Van Allsburg’s Probuditi! is a funny and clever tale about mischievous young boys and the unappreciated work of their younger siblings. The setting for this story is completely realistic, no magic or wild imaginations required. The characters are everyday and ordinary-two siblings and a friend, absent parents. However, unlike most days, it is it he younger sibling who gets the one-up, and through sheer wit. In this book Van Allsburg shows his mastery of pace. With each page turn the story moves on at the pace of a child’s attention span-text is superimposed on the picture, as if trying not to be a drag on the story, which is already alive in illustrations. His snapshot style of illustration catches character faces at their most natural-and not always flattering. Van Allsburgs characters are never posed, always captured. Even figures barely caught in the frame betray their involvement in telling postures and facial expressions. This feature adds an extra level to each reading, and value to the experience as a whole. Recommended for school and public libraries alike, as a welcome addition to any collection of picture books. ( )

Great Van Allsburg picture book, very cute for exploration in family dynamics, it may be a good one to read alond with 'The Relatives Came' by Rylant ( )