Kathryn the Grape: Just Like Magic (Children's Book Review)

Kathryn the Grape: Just Like Magic by Kathryn Cloward and Jody Duhamel is a wonderful story about Kathryn, who has a very special friend. Her special friend Maggie is a butterfly with a magic wand, and her friend gave Kathryn a magic wand too. Kathryn's magic wand helps her feel safe at night by making monsters disappear, by making her nervousness go away, whenever she is encounters new situations, and sometimes it even helps her friends too. The magic wand can only be used to do good things, and it simply will not work to do not-so-good things.

The magic wand helps Kathryn on many occasions, and when Kathryn decides to sign up for the softball team, the wand helps her be fearless so that she can play great. However, eventually Kathryn finds out that the magic is inside of her, and that everyone is magical.


Kathryn the Grape is a sweet story that helps children understand just how special they are. It helps them believe that they really do not need any special wand to have special powers, they just need to find the magic within themselves.



My three boys ages 8, 4 and 16 months were quite a bit skeptical, when I pulled out Kathryn the Grape: Just Like Magic. The cover is purple, in fact there is purple everywhere in the book, and yes there was a girl and butterfly on the cover of the book. As I said they were hesitant, but I had a feeling that they would soon be convinced that Kathryn the Grape indeed was magical. As I expected it did not take long for my boys to be caught up in the story of Kathryn the Grape and her friend Maggie.

The storyline captivated my two oldest boys, and when we were discussing the book afterward, my eight-year-old especially had a lot to say about Kathryn the Grape: Just Like Magic. While this book might seem like a book for girls, it turned out to work very well with boys as well.

Cloward and Duhamel have succeeded in writing a book to inspire children to believe in themselves and their own magic, and the story is one that both empowers and encourages children to be who they are without doubting themselves and their own worth.

You can win a copy of Kathryn the Grape: Just Like Magic 

here at Story Time Under the Stars.

Title: Kathryn the Grape: Just Like Magic

Authors: Kathryn Cloward and Jody Duhamel
Illustrator: Christine Winscott

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Kandon Publishing (November 1, 2023)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982927703
ISBN-13: 978-0982927700
Website: www.kathrynthegrape.com

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Kathryn the Grape: Just Like Magic by Kathryn Cloward and Jody Duhamel for the purpose of writing a book review . I did not receive any monetary compensation, and my review has not been influenced by anything other than my experience with the book. Versions of this review may have been posted on other websites and in printed publications.