Lion’s Tooth Magic: The Circle of Friends

Chad Cox's Lion's Tooth Magic: The Circle of Friends is a magical adventure for 9 year olds about a girl whose wish on a dandelion clock lets her talk to animals.

What happens

Mackenzie is ten and she LOVES dandelions. Most people pull them up. She spins round in them at playtime and calls the patch her garden.

One morning a strange girl called Gwennie is sitting at the next desk, in a black lace dress instead of school uniform. At break she tells Mackenzie to pick a fluffy white dandelion and make a wish. Mackenzie wishes she could talk to animals, like the girl in the book her mum reads to her. Then a flock of geese flies over, squabbling about who should stay on the left!

And Gwennie? When class starts again she's gone, and nobody else remembers her at all.

From there it's talking animals all the way. Barkley, the golden retriever next door, would like some privacy when he goes to the toilet, thank you. A chubby raccoon called Tubby taps on her window at midnight with a message. Before long Mackenzie is whisked to a campfire in a circle of evergreens and told a very old story about a jealous princess who was banished to Antarctica.

Back home there's a much more everyday baddie. Gertrude White has just made herself head of the neighbourhood residents' group. She hates long grass, geese, raccoons in the pool and, most of all, dandelions. She's awful in a very satisfying way.

Mackenzie is a lovely heroine. She's a bit quirky (she wonders out loud if she has a brain condition) and she sobs when her dad says he'll spray the lawn. That mix of big magic and ordinary family life is what makes it work.

There are a couple of properly spooky moments. Something scratches at her window in the dark, and a giant white cat chases her and Tubby into a smelly bin. Barkley also hints, by playing dead, what might happen to Tubby if animal control keep him. A worrier might like a grown-up nearby for those bits, but help is only a whistle away.

It's set in Kansas, so expect fifth grade and a homeowners' association rather than Year 6.

What to read next

If they love the idea of magic that's all about animals, Upside-Down Magic follows Nory, who can turn herself into animals (just not always the right ones).