Morris and the magic of stories by Didier Lévy & Lorenzo Sangió

Morris the cat's favourite food was mice, but he was tired of having to run around all day to hunt them. He decided it would be much better if he were to lure them to him by reading them stories, just like magic. But no matter what story he chose - sad, funny, boring - he and the mice got so involved in it that when it ended, he was no longer hungry and the mice sauntered off, safe. Just like magic.

Morris even tried writing his own story - but after many attempts at trying to make one up, he decided he wasn't a story teller at all. But when he shared his own story about a cat who tried to catch mice by reading to them and who, as usual, came to listen, he found that he couldn't eat them after all. They had all become friends through the magic of stories.

Was Morris going to starve? Or did the mice have a surprise for him?

Ever since I reviewed Wolfgang and the Magic of Music and learned of this predecessor, I've been waiting for it to arrive because it seemed to be at the very essence of what we do - share the magic of stories to anyone who will listen - and I was not disappointed because it echoes my current situation. At the start of the year, I volunteered to read to the littlies at the local preschool each week so I could leave the books with them and try to shrink the piles I have collected, but now they give me more than I give them in the form of cuddles and smiles and the inevitable shout of recognition in the supermarket aisle! Love it. The magic of stories. And it spans time and space as 2,204,658 registered participants in 16 632 locations took part in ALIA's National Simultaneous Storytime last week and already excitement is mounting as CBCA Book Week approaches. And that's just in Australia!

This is one for all ages. Little ones will just love it for the story itself while those who are older can share their own stories of stories that have significance for them for whatever reason, and maybe create a display of the titles to encourage their friends to read more widely. There is the opportunity to introduce genre as they share sad, funny and boring stories, particularly in the build-up to the Book Week theme - or just celebrate the magic of the printed word that can be revisited over and over or lead you to new places altogether.

Barbara Braxton