Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Wandmaker’s Guidebook
Illustrator: Dan Jankowski
Novelty Book
For ages 7 to 12
Scholastic, 2006 ISBN: 978-0439862653
Be warned, do not consider becoming an Apprentice Wandmaker unless you are willing to make many sacrifices, to abide by many rules, and to spend a great deal of time learning your craft. Be aware also that being a Wandmaker can be a dangerous business, as history has shown time and time again.
Coralis, a Master Wandmaker, has decided to write down everything that he thinks you will need to know to launch you into world of an Apprentice Wandmaker. He begins his guide by impressing on his students the need to learn the Seven Rules of Wand Making. Perhaps the most important of these rules is that you must not tell anyone that you are a wand bearer. Keep your wand a secret.
Next Coralis tells his students about how to take care their wand and about the types of wands that there are. There are three basic kinds and in each case the Wandmaker should concentrate on the elements that he or she places inside the wand and not on the “aesthetic design” of the wand which is of little real importance. When it comes to wands, looks are pretty irrelevant.
In the next section Coralis discusses how the wand bearer can use the “Power of Nature” to best effect to create the perfect wand. There are many herbs that will lend wands special powers. In addition there are crystals which have unique properties and one can also draw “personal power from the strength of animals.” One also has to take Lunar energy into account. Do you want to harness the energy of the waxing, the waning or the full moon?
Finally Coralis tells his audience about some the successes and failures in the history of wandmaking.
Readers will not only be engaged by Coralis’s interesting words of wisdom but they will also be entertained by his amusing notes, the annotations to the rich illustrations, and the many multimedia features which beg to be examined and pored over. Perhaps best of all readers are provided with a wooden wand which they can ‘prepare’ using some of the provided materials or with materials that they find on their own. Young novice witches and wizards will be delighted with this novelty book
