The Wish Sisters: The running wish by Allison Rushby

The running wish is the third in the delightful The wish sisters series, which feature Flick and her baby sister Birdie, who can call on an imp to make wishes come true. In this episode, the family is off to the school’s sports day, Dad hoping to win the parent-teacher race and Flick hoping to overcome her poor starts in the running race. Both are hoping that Birdie does not make any wishes that will bring her to the attention of Mrs Mortlake their nosy neighbour and the news team that she has invited to the sports day.

With a laugh aloud first chapter featuring Dad in ’green-and-black stripy socks, black shorts, a green tulle skirt and a green t-shirt’ ready for his race and hoping to win points for the green team, readers know that they are going to have fun reading about the antics of this family. What will Baby Birdie get up to when she gives wishes at the sports day? Flick must be very alert to make sure that the green team is not given an unfair advantage.

Karen Blair’s black and white illustrations perfectly complement the flow of Rushby’s narrative. I loved the family resemblance between Flick and Birdie with their tight curls and big eyes and the drawings of Dad in his tulle skirt are hilarious.

This can be read as a stand-alone, as there is a synopsis given at the beginning of the story which outlines the main characters and how the wishes began. The magic of the wishes is introduced in The party wish and readers might like to start there and continue with the rest in the series, The big wish and The pet wish.

Ideal for newly independent readers, this series is sure to be a hit.

Themes: Sports Day, Family life, Wishes, Imps, Community, Friendship, Neighbours, Humour.

Pat Pledger