The Magic Callaloo

This colourful, fabulous Rapunzel retelling features a magic wishing callaloo plant, a selfish thief and a dauntless girl with huge beautiful curls, inspired by stories of enslaved Africans who wove patterns and escape maps into their cornrowed hair. A wonderful text-rich picture book for readers of 5+. – Imogen Russell Williams * The Guardian *A wonderful and enchanting book that will keep the reader enthralled… With extremely colourful illustrations, this book is a delight to read. * PA Media, syndicated via NewsChain to Northern Echo, Breakingnews.ie, Offaly Live, Liverpool Echo, Bristol Post, Hull Daily Mail *This book is truly magical. * Juno *In prose as rich and vivid as the glorious technicolour illustrations, Trish Cooke has given us an Afro-Caribbean homage to the traditional Rapunzel tale, with its themes of captivity and escape. * LoveReading4Kids Star Book *This fairy-tale, set-in Bass’ vibrant, technicolour landscape, is a captivating celebration of family, community, love and Black hair from the author of the beloved picture book So Much. While The Magic Callaloo will still appeal to Cooke’s youngest fans, this text-heavy story will also be read by independent readers aged five and up. Simply gorgeous. * The Bookseller *

Trish Cooke writes multi-racial children’s books, scripts for theatre, television, radio and film. She is also an actress. Her series of inter-racial adaptations of children’s fairy tales have been popular at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Cinderella (2007) was the first pantomime to be nominated for an Olivier Award.

Sophie Bass draws inspiration from her mixed British and Trinidadian heritage and from music, social justice, mythology and symbolism. She works by hand employing traditional techniques with gouache and pen to create contemporary images characterized by strong figures, vivid colours and a distinctive style.

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