The Wizard Comes to Town

Originally published in 1973, as Mrs. Begg and the Wizard, this delightful picture-book from Mercer Mayer was recently reprinted, under this new title, The Wizard Comes to Town - and thank goodness it was! Whatever name used (I'm not really sure why the change was made), this is a story young readers will enjoy, particularly during the Halloween season, so I'm glad to see that it's available again. The tale of Mrs. Begg and her boarding house, who are put to the test when a new boarder - one Wizard Extraordinaire, Z.P. Alabasium - creates chaos with his magic, it boasts both an engaging narrative and utterly enchanting illustrations.

Mayer's artwork always remind me a bit of Trina Schart Hyman (high praise, indeed!), and this was no show more exception. There were also some scenes, particularly that involving the boarders - almost in profile, on the steps leading to the wizard's room - that strongly resemble some of the work Mayer later did in his fairy-tales, books like Beauty and the Beast. With an abundance of creepy creatures, and a satisfying conclusion, this is one book young magic-lovers will not want to miss! show less

This was a great Halloween book about a wizard who stays at an inn but is causing trouble for the other guests. Mrs. Beggs, the inn keeper, turns to her magic book and calls upon magical creatures to get rid of the wizard. The book has a fun cliff hanger where another hooded-person wants a room at the inn and all the guests are weary as to whether or not they should let "it' in. Great book!

The pictures are dark and detailed - wouldn't work so well for a storytime or under the covers, I don't think. And nobody knows what boarding houses are anymore (which is actually too bad, but not Mayer's fault). My biggest concern, though, is that we don't get to see the wizard's pov at all, even though he looks interesting. The other title (Mrs. Beggs and the Wizard) makes more sense, but I still find the story lacking in substance. It's more an excuse for Mayer to show us his cool monsters. Ok, and they are pretty cool. So, it's simply a solid 3 stars.

Summary:
Mrs. Beggs runs a boarding house. One day a man who claims to be a wizard asks for a room, which Mrs. Beggs readily gives him. However, she begins to regret her decision when strange things such as storms inside the house, creatures lurking about and things transfiguring into others. The other guest at the boarding house begin to rightly complain. Mrs. Beggs tries to talk to the wizard but he refuses to stop making strange things happening. The Wizard even turns the constable into a ram. So Mrs. Beggs decides to fight magic with magic and uses a witches kit to run the strange creatures, and the Wizard out of her boarding house. However once he wizard is gone the guest miss the strange things because now the boarding house is show more boring. Luckily the door bell rings and we can tell by the pictures that another Strange Character has come to visit so the boarders will not be bored for long.

Review
I lke this book beacuse it teaches children that having someone who is a little different around is necessary and good for everyone ( the boarders complaing about the wizard but then miss him when he is gone). It also teaches that everyone has a little weird in them ( Mrs. Beggs resorts to witchcraft to get rid of the Wizard).

Part of this high rating for the book is also it's entertaiment value. The story line is imaginative. No body likes a boring book no matter what your age. show less

This book is about a lady who rents a room in her house to a wizard. He makes strange things happen in the house and her other guests begin to complain. Mrs. Beggs tries many different things to get rid of the wizard but nothing works, so she uses witchery. The witchery gets rid of him but then everyone complains about how boring the house is.

This book would be good to read around Halloween time.

Mr. Alabasium checks into Mrs. Beggs' hotel. All the guests start to notice things are going wrong. The hotel is becoming a mess. They find out that it is because of Mr. Alabasium and that he is wizard. They get him out of the hotel and things go back to normal. They noticed things were kind of boring around the hotel after the wizard left, until they heard a knock at the door, and it was Mr. Alabasium.

This book is about Mrs Beggs and her boarding house. One day a wizard shows up and rents a room. After this many strange things begin to happen such as the flowers dieing and it raining inside the house, the other renters get angry and want the wizard to leave. Mrs. Beggs can not come up with a way that gets him out except for casting a spell so she does just that and the wizard disappears in the middle of the night. The next moring when the wizard is gone the other renters discover that they are bored and another strange guests visits the house.