Ask any child of a certain age, "What is the magic word?" and you are sure to get the dutifully rendered answer, "Please." They know it well.
But, one night around 8:45pm on Larch St., Paxton C. Heymeyer chose another word when asked the magic question. Paxton did not summon the Please. Instead he chose to utter, "Can I have a cookie, Alakazoomba." No please for Paxton..just a great big Alakazoomba. Where did the word come from? No one knows. But there it was.
He wanted a cookie. He wanted it very badly. His babysitter asked him the question, "What is the magic word?"
So, what happened you are no doubt wondering? Behold, a cookie and a puff of blue smoke appeared in Paxton's hopeful hand. The magic of the word please stood unchallenged yet the choice of the word Alakazooma seemed to hold a cache all its own. Where were the limitations? Was this a cookies only kind of magic word?
If you arm a talented young fellow with a magic word, the walrus is not the limit. The elephant isn't the stopping point. Imagine the potential!
But, is Alakazoomba the real magic word?
The extraordinarily untethered and snarkily magical mind of Mac Barnett has expressed deep feelings and big wishes of children everywhere. As Mac probably spends his own days shouting Alakazoomba just to see what happens next, this brilliant fun is no surprise at all....but it holds astonishing magic!
