An Australian children's classic. Fond memories of reading this as a kid and fond memories now of reading this to my niece. ( )

This was a great book by a great author and an equally great illustrator. The book is about a young possum named Hush who is very well guarded by his grandmother and her "possum magic." His grandmother can keep him safe with her possum magic by making him invisible, but eventually, Hush wants to be seen, and heard... he wants his freedom to be who he wishes. I think that there are two themes here, one is that of the power of love, grandma's heart is certainly in the right place whilst she protects young Hush, and the other theme is one of coming of age. Grandma learns that part of loving Hush is to let him be free to learn and explore for himself, and of course young Hush learns just how deep, and powerful his grandma's love is for him. This is a good book to introduce concepts of love and companion, but also about setting healthy boundaries. ( )

Inside Australia, there lived a possum named Hush and his grandmother Poo who does magic. One day, Grandma Poo makes Hush invisible in order to protect him from various dangers. After a while, Hush no longer wants to be invisible and asks his grandmother for help, his grandmother, not knowing what to do, decides to travel to introduce Hush to the world. A story with sweet illustrations suitable for parents and children to teach them to protect children and to trust that they are going to be fine. ( )

This story was actually really deep for me, because the grandmother decides to shelter the grandchild for so long that in the long run limits Hush from being their own person and in a way limiting them to who they are. I think this was deep for me because in our culture, we tend to keep the training wheels on for our children way longer than others. I think it is a good book that sends a good message. ( )

A sweet and beautiful illustrated Australian story about a little possum who is made invisible and after a while doesn't want to be invisible anymore. He and his grandmother travel throughout Australia to find the right food to turn him back. This book shows how we try to protect our children by keeping them hidden, but one day they will want to be a part of the world. Therefore, we must accept desire for freedom and to be seen by the world. ( )

This was an interesting book. I think that the little possum was trying to find her identity while she was invisible which made it really hard for her. The grandma on the other hand was only trying to keep her safe by making her invisible but I think it only created more problems.

The story is about a possum who get's turned invisible by his grandma possum. Using possum magic to do so, but the issue comes when they weren't able to reverse the effects of the magic. There's a lot that can be taught through this book, I'd have it in my classroom.

This book was different and creative. I think it was interesting how the story is about possums and magical tendencies. I think a good point in this story is how sometimes we can be overprotective for our family members and things can get tricky at times. This almost reminds me of a disney movie, ratatouille. The talking animals and magic were entertaining to read. I think this would be most appropriate for grades k - 2.

I like this story because it is about the care that grandmothers give to their grandchildren. How sometimes we over protect our children, and that is not correct either. Sometimes we act in a good way, but we don't consider the person's opinions. In this story we also learn about different foods and traditions from other cultures. This book is appropriate for k-2 students, but I would use it with older kids to read aloud. I believe this book is also entertaining and has illustrations that students would like to use their imaginations and start guessing what will happen next in the story. ( )

Title: Possum Magic
- Author: Mem Fox
- Illustrator: Julie Vivas
- Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
- Date: 1983 (year published); January 21, 2022 (date read)
- Pages: 32
- Type of Book/Genre: Picture Book, Fiction
- Short Summary of the Main Plot: The story begins by introducing two characters that live in the Australian bush, Hush and Grandma Poss. Grandma Poss has bush magic, that can make dingo’s smile, turn animals blue, and can turn Hush invisible. While invisible she could be smushed by Koalas and slide down Kangaroos. It also kept her safe from snakes, which is why she turned her invisible in the first place. She asked her grandma to make her visible again to be able to see what she looks like, but Grandma Poss was not able to find the magic in her books. Hush was sad she was not able to turn visible again. Then, Grandma Poss had an epiphany that she needs to eat human food to turn visible again. They left the bush, to find people food. They talk about all the places they went and the food they ate, like pumpkin scones in Brisbane. Unfortunately, Hush was still invisible. Then, they went to Darwin, and Hush had a vegemite sandwich, and her tail became visible. Later in Perth, Hush had a pavlova, and her legs and body became visible. After, they went to Tasmania, specifically in a casino she ate a lamington, and she became fully visible again. They danced in celebration. Every year on her birthday they ate the foods that turned her visible to ensure she would stay visible forever, and she did.
- Tags/Subject Headings that Describe the Content: Family, visibility, eating, travel, happiness.
- My Response: I really enjoyed this story because of the illustrations and the story line itself. I thought it was really creative, I would have never thought to write a story about possums and eating to become visible. I want this book in my classroom.

Possum Magic was different from what I pictured it to be about. Even the style of possum was not what I expected. My mind quickly went to the American style possum, so to see that, that was not what I had in mind when hearing the story first and then later looking at the pictures. I think this book would be a bit too complex for younger grades 2nd and lower. ( )

This book follows a magical possum with her grandchild possum. It follows the journey of the magic of the grandma possum and what happens when one is not cautious with their decisions. It is a good book with a good message. I do think this book would go well with the younger students. ( )

I heard Mem being interviewed on TV a while ago. She said that if you didn't have time as parents to read several books a day to your children (meaning picture books, as you might imagine) you should have had gold fish instead.

I anxiously rang my mother the next day. 'Did you read to us when we were that little?' - too little to remember? She reacted a bit like she'd been asked if she abused us. 'Of course we read to you when you were little', sounding a bit shocked that I'd even wondered.

Not surprisingly, maybe, since my mother taught with Mem when we were little and in fact Mem gave us elocution lessons while we were in primary school. My parents thought we should have all these extra things in our lives, but we were just as poor as poor could be, so if somebody like a schoolteaching mate could be called upon to get involved, so much the better. She was a dramatic, vivacious teacher.

Much later on, about 1980, when I was twenty or so, a girl who used to cast for the famous sex soap opera No. 96 in the early seventies, said she wished she could have used my voice. I've always wondered if that was due to, or despite, Mem's lessons. And if she would have considered this a success or a failure. ( )

illustrations are cool!! the repition is good.

When Grandma Poss's magic turns Hush invisible, the two possums take a culinary tour of Australia to find the food that will make her visible once more.

A great book to use if you are learning about Australia and specific foods. ( )

Picture book. In Australia there are two possums named Poss and Hush and Poss could do magic tricks including make Hush invisible. Hush liked being invisible because he could slide down kangaroos back and no one knew and hide from snakes. But when he wanted to be visible again Poss couldn't find the spell to change him back, but she knew it had something to do with food. So Poss and Hush went all over Australia eating everything and slowly but surely becomes visible again. ( )

If you need a book about diversity and cultures for young children, read "Possum Magic" with them. The illustrations by Julie Vivas are beautiful and convey the mood very well: when grandma Poss and Hush were sad, they were both drawn in shades of blue and grey, but when they took a trip, the colors come alive again. I also loved that there is a glossary of Australian terms and map of Australia with the food trip details on it in the back of the book. This book can be used to teach a lesson about culture of Australia, wild animals, or food from foreign countries. It made me hungry for Vegemite sandwich, that's for sure! ( )

Grandma Poss uses bush magic to make Hush invisible, but when Hush wants to see herself again, Grandma can't remember which particular Australian food is needed to reverse the spell. Traveling around the continent in search of an antidote, Grandma and Hush sample Anzac biscuits, mornay, vegemite, and pavlova until the right delicacy is found. Great illustrations ( )

2 copies. When Grandma Poss's magic turns Hush invisible, the 2 possums make a culinary tour of Australia to find the food that will make her visible once more.

This book is a little outdated so I was hesitant about reading it, but the story is super cute and teaches about Australia! Vegemite sandwiches at school! ( )

Grandma Poss uses her best bush magic to make Hush invisible. But when Hush longs to be able to see herself again, the two possums must make their way across Australia to find the magic food that will make Hush visible once more.

I think this was a great book. The first reason why I liked this book was because of the characters. I think the relationship between the grandma possum and Hush was adorable, and I liked how the grandma made it her goal to help her grandchild become visible after being invisible for so long. I think that their caring relationship was relateable and realistic. I also enjoyed the illustrations because I thought they were crucial to the story. When Hush is invisible, you can still see him as an outline in the illustrations, which I think enhances the book. The big idea in this book is that it is important to be seen, both literally and figuratively. ( )

I think this book is super cute for teaching about different cultures. This book is specific for Australia. I would use this book for a class of 2nd-3rd graders just because of the background knowlede you have to have when reading it. I think it's really neat the way the author talks about all the most poopluar foods in Australia. If you had a school that allowed food, this would be a great book to create samples out of! ( )

Classic Australian Childrens Fiction, sweet and with beautiful illustrations ( )