The Wizard Comes to Town

Spring brings a refreshing return of old favorites. In The Wizard Comes to Town by Mercer Mayer, originally published in 1973, a stranger rents a room at Bertha Beggs's boarding house. Things quickly go awry, from rainstorms in the parlor to reptiles in the beds, until Mrs. Beggs decides she must expel her unusual lodger with some spells of her own. Framed illustrations with an old-fashioned woodcut feel add solidity to the mayhem. .