I’m aware that many celebrities are now publishing books and that there is a lot of skepticism within the book world about this. It’s understandable because the sheer volume of books in this vein has exploded in recent years. However, I’m always curious about them. Maybe I’m naive but I believe that the celebrity must have played some kind of central role to the creation of the book that their name is on, right? Perhaps they didn’t write every word (and in the case of this one, it clearly has Tom Easton on the cover) but they probably came up with the idea or the characters themselves? Anyway, this one piqued my interest because I had no idea that Stephen Mulhern was at all literary.

Max Mullers loves entertaining his classmates with the magic tricks that his gran taught him but his talent has never been able to keep Bottley the bully away. A scuffle with Bottley at the market lands Max in huge trouble with local villains, the Crayfish twins. But Max has magic to help him out of any scrape, so what can it do for him this time?

The illustrations are bold and charming and Max does bear a resemblance to a young Stephen Mulhern. I have since learned that this book is a fictional account of Stephen’s own story to becoming a magician and TV star and this knowledge does make me look at Max’s illustrated self in that light. He has a great authenticity to him and now I know why!

Max Magic is ultimately a story about bullying and conquering it. I really loved the refreshing take on a victim of bullying. You expect bullying victims to be shy and nervous but Max is quite the opposite of that. It proves that anyone can be a target for bullies and that confidence and talent isn’t necessarily a deterrent for those who want to persecute others.

I really enjoyed the humour in the book. It’s quite subtle but still easy for a pre-teen to catch. Of course, this subtlety also makes it enjoyable for older readers and the comedy is perhaps one reason why parents will enjoy reading the book with their children.

Max’s dad wants his son to stop doing magic and focus on getting a more stable, realistic career. This is definitely something that every kid with a creative or competitive career ambition deals with and without this doubt, I’m not sure Max’s story would have felt as genuine. I wonder if these were real words that Mulhern heard in his childhood.

The story is about keeping love and friendship at the centre of your world. Even the characters who believe in Max’s talent remind him of the most important things and Max is certainly someone who needs bringing back down to earth occasionally. It’s a lovely message to impart in a children’s book and one that will never get old or lose its significance, no matter how many times it’s repeated.

Max Magic is a funny, heartwarming, fast-paced book with a smart, inspirational hero and some fantastic side characters. It’s about overcoming obstacles and remembering the most important, irreplaceable things in life because these are surely what will steer you to true happiness.

An enjoyable, mysterious read with well drawn funny characters - suitable for readers age 9-10.. My daughter really liked the story and since she's the target audience I consider this high praise indeed!!

I actually gave this to my 7 year old son to review for me as he loves watching Stephen on In For A Penny (douch!!), and he flew through it in just a couple of days.
He said he liked the characters and thought it was pretty funny, with good pictures too and would like to read more books by him!