Product Description

The story of an unusual little girl who has magical powers. When someone makes her angry, she zaps a punishment on them with her magic flashing finger! This edtion also has an author biography.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17456 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 67 pages

Review
Remember Ruth McKenney and her sister Eileen at camp? When they put the black wart curse on the trembling soft ball teammate. And she busted out with a pimple? It's always fun and most girls try it, half believing they're junior witches. This story plays straight to that. The narrator, an eight year old girl has a wicked finger ("Zak") triggered by a rampant temper. When she pointed it at the Greggs she was seeing red at their insensitive bloodlust. The Greggs shot deer and birds and laughed about it. The pointing finger gave the Gregg family 24 hours of being small birds. Their attempts to nest, feed and avoid getting shot are quite funny. So are the black and white illustrations of William Pene Dubois. (Kirkus Reviews)

Synopsis
The story of an unusual little girl who has magical powers. When someone makes her angry, she zaps a punishment on them with her magic flashing finger! This edtion also has an author biography.

About the Author
Roald Dahl, the best-loved of children's writers, was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. After school in England he went to work for Shell in Africa. He began to write after "a monumental bash on the head", sustained as an RAF pilot in warld War II. Roald Dahl died in 1990.

Customer Reviews

Hunters are horrid
The Greggs are hunters who will shoot anything in the woods for fun. The little eight year old girl (who is always unnamed) who lives next door can't stand hunting of the ducks - and one day, she gets so mad that she puts the "magic finger" on them. The next morning, the Greggs wake up bird sized, complete with wings ... and that's just the beginning of their problems. I would rate this book a fabulous 7/ 10 because I think Roald Dahl should have named the girl. Overall, this book is just over the rating of a standard book. This book is a classical Roald Dahl which is much loved by millions!

The Hunters Become the Hunted
This book is about empathy and fairness. An 8 year-old girl is annoyed when she sees people causing hurt. She zaps her teacher for telling the girl she is stupid when she misspells cat (kat). The teacher starts to turn into a feline-like creature with whiskers and a tail. The girl also "can't stand hunting." Annoyed by the Greggs who hunt for deer and ducks, suddenly the Greggs find themselves changing places, roles, and body features with a duck family. The Greggs quickly decide they don't like being prey very much. Most young people will relate well to this book during their period when they think carefully through the implications of eating meat. The book contains many black-and-white pen and pencil sketches by Quentin Blake to illustrate the key shifts taking place.

I thought that the story and the illustrations just didn't quite pull off the theme. It's clearly bad to hurt people's feelings and to hunt, as this story evolves. But what about having a hamburger? The book needs to broaden its message in order to make it clear what is being condemned. I wasn't sure where the book intended to draw limits on what people can do to animals. The illustrations sometimes look like scribbles done by someone in the back of a car that was hitting potholes. I suspect that the intent was to mimic a child's style. I would have preferred choosing a better child artist as a model, if that is the case. The beneficial changes occur because the girl has a magic finger. Well, I didn't have one when I was 8. What should an 8 year-old really do?

When you and your child read this book together, I suggest that you plan to spend some time describing or developing a moral system that makes sense to both of you. This book's strength is that it will raise many valuable questions, that require better answers than are provided here. For example, if someone makes an error, what is the best way to respond in various situations? What are the rights of animals in terms of providing food and medicines for humans and as experimental subjects? What is each person's responsibility in this regard?

Always ask yourself, would I like others to do unto me as I do unto them now?

This book was brilliant!
This amazingly,funny book put together with Quentin Blake's Hilarious illustrations is the most imganitive book ever!In first person,the girl of all magic and power,has a finger.Well of course she has a finger but not an ordinary finger,a finger of magic.She,the girl,turned poor Mrs Winter into a hairy pussy cat! But before long something dreadful happened she turned the Greg family into a family of... Well don't be so upset,you can read it yourself you know!