Somehow picking this one up, I knew after the first page it was going to not be as fun as it promised.

If you ever want a story that covers just how selfish a child is accurately, this is definitely a book for you. The main characters are kids, and they behave like kids.

Peter, our main character, is very much a child complete with unrealistic wants and a dislike for dogs. He treats The Dog how a child that doesn't want a dog would. He lies. He gets mad. He gets power, and he sees everyone as inferior and weak.

The characters are not likable. That's a strong thing. Writing children this young and making them likable is very hard to impossible. Children are awful, children are selfish. The kids in this book are violent, they're moody, they say and think bad things. They are kids. It's hard to find anyone pleasant, even The Dog is passive, emotionless most of the time, and simply seems to let bad things happen. His loyalty shouldn't be as it is, yet he goes back to an abusive owner to help him, knowing full well -and we get it said easily three or more times in this short book- he might up and obliterate Peter and everyone around him.

As for the plot, which I should have covered at the start, but couldn't. Peter, Celia, and Izzy all are siblings whose father is deployed to war. Peter encounters a magic dog, gets told "you're a wizard, Petey" in so many words, and is told if he can help with a backfiring spell, maybe the magician will help him magic his dad home from the field(let's not look into the legal ramifications of abandoning the field and going home).

Peter hates The Dog, won't name him, and is a jerk to him in every way possible. The Dog rolls with this despite being fully sentient and magic.

It takes until well near the final few chapters, into pages 130 and such for these characters to express a sense of humanity beyond childish behavior, and even then it is questionable as half of the exchanges are angry and moody. Chapter seventeen is where there's more to the story than a slow crawling of a young boy's inner selfishness and anger. It's from there on that things are good.

It has a good message,

"People aren't perfect. They're just . . . they're people."

but that too gets muddied by the end.

Because the ending is a dream, an undoing. The angry horrible child who harmed his parents and his pet? Gone, undone into an amnesiac boy. The memories the girls Izzy and Celia gained on their adventures? Erased. Poof! The talking magical dog? It's over, done with. Begone! Only it's not for The Dog, or is it?

The ending falls into a disappointing area of no-consequences and nothing really happened. Which is a common trend in so many children books. It's horribly frustrating and underdone to the point I had to drop this book's rating down again because I had more faith in it despite the slow pacing, and it still let me down. ( )

The Misadventures of the Magicians Dog is a fun adventure with magic, a talking dog, and three siblings. Although it is a classically fun middle grade story-- there are some bits that are very unique and made this book have a little more to offer than others.

Peter Lubinsky is a pretty average looking kid. But when a talking dog looks in a Crystal ball and finds him to be the answer to his problems-- soon things begin to change in Peter's life. Peter requests a dog for his birthday. Thing is, he doesn't know why he asked for a dog, he doesn't particularly even like dogs! Then, at the pet shop, Peter chooses "The Dog" and
goes home to find he can talk!

This is the first part of the story. As we are getting to know the characters, I couldn't help but be a little bored. I became impatient and wanted the adventure to begin sooner. I know kids will be reading this...who notoriously have lower attention spans than adults, so I'm afraid a kid may not stay interested enough to get to the adventure. That was the main problem I had with this story.

The best thing about this story; and what sets it apart from others in the genre, is the parental situation. Peter's parents are married but his dad is in the US Air Force. He's currently deployed in Iraq and Peter and his family deal with the loneliness and sadness that ensues with his constant absence. Peter feels anger that his father is gone all the time. But, ultimately, he learns that being in the Air Force is something his father loves. It's a part of him, and Peter begins to understand and respect that.

Peter and his sisters try to save an evil magician, and go through a big adventure in the process. Can the evil magician be turned good again? Will Peter lose himself due to practicing magic?

This was a super fun story. It was unique and I really liked that. If only the pacing was a little better, it would've been perfect. I look forward to reading more from this author!

Note: a copy of this book was provided to me by the author as part of the blog tour in exchange for an honest review. ( )

The Misadventures of the Magician’s Dog was one of the middle grade books I picked up at BEA in May… I know I am still trying to work through them, but I am getting there. This one was interesting the second I saw it, who doesn’t like a cover with a glowing dog and a dinosaur on the front?? Right?! It was an easy read in the MG style, about a family of kids and their mom. Their father went off to war and the kids are not too pleased about the situation. Enter a dog…and not a normal one, this dog can talk and do magic and has joined the family in need of help. His master, The Magician, accidently turned himself into a rock and Dog needs their help to return him.

Peter the main character and Dog’s companion throughout this adventure is a young boy with issues surrounding his father leaving and the book pulls at this sadness and entices him to learn magic and help the crazy Dog. Throughout the book, I found myself wondering a lot about the Dog, he is a bit of a pain and a lot of the things he want the kids to do are not right, for instance, to use magic Peter must be very angry and he will stay angry, they leave in the middle of the night, the dog says his master is mean and will probably kill them when he comes out…and they still need to help him.

I’m sorry but if I was told…please help this person but when you do they will kill you anyway….I would probably say no thanks… but these kids trek on.

I think this was one of those books that you really have to read as a kid for the full effect, I questioned too many things and didn’t give in to the imagination behind it all. The story never really drew me in completely. ( )