raquel_reading_stuff's review
5.0
It's a good read for tweens- it's just a series of little adventures these kids have, but it's not super action packed or hyper-interesting– sometimes it's a little dull and creepy, but other than that, it's kind of fun. I wouldn't reread.
choosejoytoday's review
4.0
This was a cute, gentle story set in Iowa with a little twist of magic. What's not to love?
apetruce's review
2.0
Well, the kids liked this more than me. But, as an adult, the four characters are nearly indistinguishable from one another. It's like scifi Box Car Children. Or Magic Tree House for people who can't fall asleep.
pwbalto's review
4.0
When you develop a team of siblings whose job it will be to solve a mystery, survive an adventure, or deal with magic, you have three choices. You can establish verisimilitude by making them sniping, squabbling siblings who insult each other and barely endure each other's company, like the Grace family in Tony DiTerlizzi's Spiderwick stories; you can make them react believably to danger and uncertainty by banding tightly together, viz the Baudelaire siblings, who are as supportive and encouraging of each other as the events surrounding them are unfortunate.
Or you can take the middle path. Think Aldens. Or Cassons. Heck, think of the March girls. They don't always agree, and sometimes a fit is pitched, but as far as I'm concerned, there's your verisimilitude. No hair-pulling required.
What I'm saying is: brave, considerate, honest and smart does not equal BORING. Laurel Snyder's Any Which Wall is a Penderwick-y book, a Nesbitty book, an avowedly Eagery book, featuring four children who discover a wall that works magic, and who must figure out how to use it and what it can do. Once they've got that sorted, the next step for each kid is to decide - what to wish for. What's YOUR heart's desire? Hard to say? Try making that decision when you're six.
But while each child makes this decision based on his or her own interests (Henry wants pirates, Roy chooses American history, little Emma wants a castle, while big girl Susan just wants to see her best friend again), their adventures give each kid the opportunity to stretch underused muscles: independence, honesty, logic, compassion.
The writing is clear and pleasant - Laurel Snyder has a particular gift for describing place, and her dialogue is natural and unaffected. LeUyen Pham I have to guess was just a gift from Laurel's editor. Nobody draws regular kids, with their quirks of gesture and occasional annoyed expression, like Ms. Pham. Between the two of them, they've created four children as real as the kids messing around on my porch at this very minute.
Or you can take the middle path. Think Aldens. Or Cassons. Heck, think of the March girls. They don't always agree, and sometimes a fit is pitched, but as far as I'm concerned, there's your verisimilitude. No hair-pulling required.
What I'm saying is: brave, considerate, honest and smart does not equal BORING. Laurel Snyder's Any Which Wall is a Penderwick-y book, a Nesbitty book, an avowedly Eagery book, featuring four children who discover a wall that works magic, and who must figure out how to use it and what it can do. Once they've got that sorted, the next step for each kid is to decide - what to wish for. What's YOUR heart's desire? Hard to say? Try making that decision when you're six.
But while each child makes this decision based on his or her own interests (Henry wants pirates, Roy chooses American history, little Emma wants a castle, while big girl Susan just wants to see her best friend again), their adventures give each kid the opportunity to stretch underused muscles: independence, honesty, logic, compassion.
The writing is clear and pleasant - Laurel Snyder has a particular gift for describing place, and her dialogue is natural and unaffected. LeUyen Pham I have to guess was just a gift from Laurel's editor. Nobody draws regular kids, with their quirks of gesture and occasional annoyed expression, like Ms. Pham. Between the two of them, they've created four children as real as the kids messing around on my porch at this very minute.
crabbygirl's review
4.0
[guessing at the star rating / mining my old FB notes now that they are almost impossible to find]
a magic wall transport 4 children to different worlds and adventures. so this could easily be seen as a magic-treehouse-wanna-be, but the author is clever enough to make the character development just as important as the adventures. kids used to being bossed around have to learn to think for themselves. a girl on the precipice between childhood and teenagehood mourns putting her books and dolls away too soon... this book seems an allegory of that - allowing your preteen to indulge themselves in last bit of magic, and then maybe seeing that magic can still exist for older people - it's just a different form.
a magic wall transport 4 children to different worlds and adventures. so this could easily be seen as a magic-treehouse-wanna-be, but the author is clever enough to make the character development just as important as the adventures. kids used to being bossed around have to learn to think for themselves. a girl on the precipice between childhood and teenagehood mourns putting her books and dolls away too soon... this book seems an allegory of that - allowing your preteen to indulge themselves in last bit of magic, and then maybe seeing that magic can still exist for older people - it's just a different form.
thomcat's review
4.0
I'm a sucker for time travel or dimensional travel. A good read for adults or youths.
quietjenn's review
3.0
3 1/2 really. light fantasy very much in the tradition of old school authors like edgar eager, whose actually mentioned more than once in the text. quick, enjoyable and should be fun to recommend to kids.
yatllive's review
4.0
Though Any Which Wall by Laurel Snyder is not in my young adult realm it is still a fantasy book and on that I greatly enjoyed. Despite its appeal to younger kids this book is filled with magical and adventurous schemes. The story goes like this: Susan (the oldest) Roy, Emma (the youngest) and Henry find a massive wall beyond their houses in a field. Accidentally they find out that they can be transported anywhere. But before they figure the secret of the wall they have to figure out the rules of the wall. The curiosity and the bright nature of the kids is a true gem in this book and we easily follow the kids on their hot summer fun through milkshakes to pirates to dogs and outlaws all via a big magical wall that grants you and wish… the only rule is though….. well you should read it to find out.
This book is a treasure for young readers. Laurel takes us along with the four kids on a ride; truly a book all kids young or old can immerse themselves in and go on an adventure where anything is possible. Look at the four kids: they went to see Merlin and Queen Guinevere; they went back in American history and even got to see pirates. But despite it all Any Which Wall is a witty and clever book that takes the reader into the magical world that is simple and fun and filled with rules. But what we should all remember, though cliché is Be Careful What You Wish For.
The summer foursome learned just that. But MOST importantly….you are never too old for magic.
This book is a treasure for young readers. Laurel takes us along with the four kids on a ride; truly a book all kids young or old can immerse themselves in and go on an adventure where anything is possible. Look at the four kids: they went to see Merlin and Queen Guinevere; they went back in American history and even got to see pirates. But despite it all Any Which Wall is a witty and clever book that takes the reader into the magical world that is simple and fun and filled with rules. But what we should all remember, though cliché is Be Careful What You Wish For.
The summer foursome learned just that. But MOST importantly….you are never too old for magic.
merer's review
This looked like it was going to be a great book, but I just have so much stuff going on right now that I don't think I'm going to get around to finishing it. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up again when things are less crazy.
dustingm's review
4.0
A delightful book for the early-to-middle grades. There's magic -- that's obvious -- but it manifests itself in a way that both inspires awe and logical deduction. Snyder really knows how to write for her audience, as she presents dilemmas that are age-appropriate, conundrums that are interesting but not predictable, and includes really wonderfully written treatises on the nature of magic and its relation to "every-day life." The idea of a magical wall in the middle of a cornfield evoked both awe and wonder in me and my daughter -- a bit of the magical mixed in with the mundane. It had echoes of both Field of Dreams and Shawshank Redemption, but didn't copy either of them. Snyder's prose is a delight to read, and my seven-year old and I both found ourselves well-immersed in the "every day magic" of this story. Highly recommended.