Join the delightful journey of "Gifts of the Magpie" by Sam Hundley, where whimsical misunderstandings lead to heartwarming discoveries and creative solutions!

As I ventured into the pages of this enchanting children's tale, I was immediately captivated by the endearing antics of the magpie, a feathered friend with a heart of gold. With every turn of the page, I found myself chuckling at the bird's earnest attempts to help its friends, despite the comical mix-ups along the way.

The beauty of this story lies in its message of finding joy in the simplest of gestures and appreciating the thoughtfulness behind them. Through the magpie's bungled gifts and the heartwarming reactions of its friends, young readers are gently reminded of the importance of gratitude and creativity.

One of the highlights of "Gifts of the Magpie" is undoubtedly its unique artwork, crafted from scrap materials, which adds a whimsical and eclectic charm to the narrative. Each illustration is a visual delight, perfectly complementing the playful tone of the story and enhancing the overall reading experience.

This is a delightful children's book that celebrates the beauty of friendship, creativity, and the joy of giving. With its lovable characters, humorous mishaps, and charming illustrations, this book is sure to spark laughter and inspire young minds to see the magic in everyday moments.

When a picture book has it all....beautiful illustrations, powerful message, and grabs your students attention it's a must have in your library! I loved this book so much and will be sharing it during my November library lessons to share the message of thanks, friendship and gratitude. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

The real appeal to this book is going to the the illustrations. The plot is pretty straghtforward. BUt the illustrations are all made up of scavenged items, so the reader is encouraged to see items through new perspectives.

I really liked this cute little book. I loved the puns and the homonyms. The magpie tried so hard to help everyone. I loved that all of the characters were made of found objects. It was so much fun trying to figure out what everyone was made out of. I also loved that it teaches that if you use your imagination, you can make things work out!

This is a lovely artistic children's story about seeing the beauty in the everyday and being appreciative of those who put thought into everything they do.

The magpie helps their friends by making them things that they think they have asked for. The magpie is often misunderstanding but the friends realise that they have been thoughtful so find a way to make the gifts work.

The artwork is inspired by metal scrap materials which really makes the story flow really nicely.

Overall, a lovely children's book.

Gifts of the Magpie is such a great book that will bring so much inspiration to those that read it! Children will be asking questions about each page while sparking their own imagination. A must read!

What a wonderful book! A fantastic, easy to read and understand story with beautiful illustrations, wonderfully written! My children (4, 6) both thoroughly enjoyed this title! Would recommend!

I can't even begin to describe my love for this little book! There's so much more than a cute story here -- from the awesome found-object art to the sweet magpie who chooses not quite right but still perfect gifts to the spot-on moral at the end. There's lessons on generosity and creativity, wordplay and homonyms, plus fun activities at the end. Definitely recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley and Capstone for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest opinions!

My kids enjoyed the unique art and my 6 year old understood the lesson of the book. They both wanted to see more of the author’s scrap artworks. We were pleased to learn he is an artist local to us.
Thanks for the advanced review copy.

I absolutely LOVED the art in this book. The found scrap art is industrial but earthy and made the book very visually interesting. The use of homonyms was cute and the moral around creativity and good intentions was nice (although the language or concepts at times seemed a bit advanced). All in all a very different and very fun read aloud book.

My students loved the humour of Gifts of the Magpie. They especially enjoyed trying to figure out what the magpie was going to bring each animal, after we had the discussion about what homonyms are. This led to a great spelling strategy discussion. They also loved the creativity of the illustrations and are inspired to try their own version of scrap art, using what we find in nature in the park behind our school. Finally, the growth mindset message that mistakes can lead to creative thinking and the message of being kind to others are always greatly welcomed in a classroom. My students are in sixth grade, and they said they loved this book. It will definitely be added to my classroom library. Thank you to Capstone Editions and NetGalley for the ARC!

I loved this book! In many ways, it reminded me of Amelia Bedelia who had the best of intentions but always jumbled things up.

I haven't written my full review of Gifts of the Magpie yet, but plan to use it in my language arts lessons about homonyms, homophones, and homographs. My students will love this book!

“Mistakes happen, but creative thinking can turn blunders into wonders.” And what a wonder this book is. It uses word play and found objects to make images, and make the word play fit the illustrations. This would be a hoot at story time, and a fun make and take to let kids use found objects to make their own puns or illustrations. All in all this is a great read that I would put on display over and over again.

This book (can I call it a book?!) is a revolution!

I never expected the contents to turn out like this!

I mean wow!

The art is incredibly unique and so cleverly done! No, it's not your normal pen, pencil, colour illustrations. It's object art. Art using real objects! I mean say what!

Love this initiative in children's picture books. It's phenomenal! The art and the artist deserve all the love from all around the world! This book should reach the corners of the world.

I love the mouse art the best. It's my favourite!

This is so spunky, so retro and so upbeat! Creativity at its best!

The characters are represented well. The concept to extend help when you can is worth the reminder as the story clicks.

Love
Love
Love
This!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. It's just too precious!

Such an great story with wonderfully original illustrations. I love how every picture is made up of what would be in a magpie's collection. I found Magpie's sense of humor hilarious, even though the other animals in the book did not appreciate his gifts at first.

OMGoodness where to begin! This was one of the best little books I have picked up in a long time.

The poor little magpie means well but she just cant seem to get anyones wishes right. At first her friends are dissapointed by her gifts but after taking a second look they see that with a little creativity the gifts are just right.

This entire book radiates creativity. From the illustrations that are made up of mix and matched pieces to the repurposing of the gifts. I truly enjoyed this quirky little book.

I recieved a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story is about a magpie giving gifts to his friends. The crafty artworks in the book made the characters more interesting. What made the book different from others, was the innovativeness of perception. An interesting book for bedtime stories and young learners.

A magpie who is confused by homonyms gifts the wrong items to her friends. For example, she gives her baseball-loving friend an animal bat instead of a sports bat. Her friends are upset at first until they realize they can put the gifts to good use. This imparts messages about the sentiments behind gift-giving and creatively using various items. I absolutely loved the scrap art on each page, which I’ve never seen in a picture book before. I read this via NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher.

I would use this in an Art class in an instant, which is a natural thought considering how funky cool and resourceful these characters are made from recycled goods.

However!

I would also use it as a perspective piece/ perspectives lesson in companionship with the beautifully twisted 'Fox' by Margaret Wild (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2651521-fox). I have taught Fox multiple times and it always ensnares my students and fosters dynamic discussion.

I could see these two books Gifts of the Magpie and Fox being super dynamic together. They both have clear perspective themes, misunderstandings, enigmatic art you crave looking at closely, and a spunky Magpie character at the crux of it all. Huh, I'm not going to lie, I'm delighted by my own idea for this lesson... it sounds great to me!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Found art photography is brought to creative life! This book has a two-fold message - to appreciate the things you are given because they may have a use you never expect, and there is beauty in all objects! This book is a great read-aloud for lovers of "dad jokes" - the puns are strong with this one! Try out the activity in the final pages for a creativity challenge!