Coven Tree is a small village somewhere in New England which was named for a huge, twisted tree in the area around which covens of witches once gathered. The local storekeeper, Stewart Meade, known locally as “Stew Meat,” tells the story of the mysterious Thaddeus Blinn who sets up a tent at the town’s church social and sells tickets promising to grant any wish for fifty cents.

Stewart buys one of the tickets, and so do three young people. Eleven year old Polly Kemp has the bad habit of speaking her mind which makes people ignore her, and she wants folks to pay attention to her. Fifteen year old Rowena Jervis is in love with travelling salesman Henry Piper, and she wants him to put down roots in Coven Tree. Sixteen year old Adam Fisk’s family lives on a farm that is dryer than a desert where he has to haul water from a distant stream, and he wants them to have water all over the place. What do Polly, Rowena, and Adam each wish for? How will their wishes be fulfilled? And what can they do to solve any problems created by those wishes?

This story, which was named a Newbery Honor Book in 1984, illustrates the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for because you may get it.” Several colloquial euphemisms (e.g., tarnation, consarn you, goldurn, dad-blast) are used, but the biggest thing that some people may object to is the obvious references to “magic.” One reviewer noted, “There is an eerie side to the book, but fortunately it remains subdued.” There is nothing overtly scary or frightening, but while the occult connection may be subdued, it is definitely there. If one doesn’t mind this, or is willing to overlook it, the book has both entertaining humor and some instructive moral lessons.

This is less about being careful what you wish for and more about not making deals with devils bc they'll twist your words like evil genies or Amelia Bedelia and then you're f*****d. I liked it as a kid bc it was grotesque and folk lorey. I like it now for the same reasons. Idk, my grade school literary tastes were unsettling lit, like the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series, and Little House on the Prairie. This fit right in somehow or another.

Gloria brought this book home from school and wanted me to read it. It was a well done children's be-careful-what-you-wish for story.

I just finished reading this to a 6th grade class and we all enjoyed it very much. I'd never read it before. Kept their attention which isn't always easy with 6th graders.

I first read this book when I was in grade school. I remembered being captivated by both the story and the way the frogs in the book croaked, "jug-a-rum." I was thinking about this book a few weeks ago and decided to give it another read to find out what had captivated me so much as a child.

As with many things I have found magical as a child, I cannot say for sure what it was about this book that moved me to ask my parents for a copy of it to call my own (I had to get the copy I read from a library because most of the books from my childhood were destroyed in a flood.)

That isn't to say that the book wasn't delightful to read as an adult. This tale of "be careful what you wish for" is well-written and stood the test of time. I was never bored even though I could recall a great deal of the book as I read. It is in fact a testament to the magic of the book, the author, and the tale that it was able to speak to the person I was in such a way that I would seek it out to try to experience for a moment the innocence of a younger me reading a tale about magic men, girls who croak, and boys who are wished into becoming vegetation.

GOODreads? Not this one. So disappointing, Newbery committee that chose this as an Honor selection in 1984. The story is lame and predictable. 4 people (3 of them teenagers), enter a tent that has a creepy fat man who says that, for 50 cents, he’ll make any wish come true. They all pay up—the teenagers make foolish wishes that backfire—they learn a lesson from the experience—they use the 4th wish to fix everything up all neat and tidy. This format has been done before, and done better. I’ll keep it because I collect Newbery titles, but that’s the only thing going for it. Cue the eye roll.

Cute, fun short read. Reminded me of elementary school again.

BANNED BOOK
It’s a banned book due to the supernatural element to the storyline.
Charlatan Thaddeus Blinn has an audience of four:
Polly, Rowena, Adam and “Stew Meat”. Each is granted one wish. All make their wish.
The moral of the story is: be careful what you wish for because it may come true (but it may not be what you expected).
I thought it was a very cute book.

I first read this book back in grade school, when I was around eight or nine. I remember being completely drawn into the story, and I hung on every word. Fast forward to me finding the book at a local secondhand bookstore years later. I grabbed it off the shelf immediately and bought it without a second thought. It's still as wonderful as ever.

The "be careful what you wish for" moral has been used in thousands of stories, so this isn't a new concept. You also somehow know exactly where the story is heading (or maybe this is just me as an adult, because I do slightly remember having "Aha!" moments as a kid reading this). Despite all this, it's straightforward and tells things as they are, and the storytelling is delightful: bleak and yet humorous, told in the wry tone of Stew Meat, a no-nonsense narrator-slash-main-character curious enough to involve himself in the main plot in the first place and wise enough to listen to children without admonishing them.

I'm glad I bought the book, and I'm glad I read it again. This is definitely something I'll want my daughter to read in a year or two - a good balance of real-world (as real as it can get with magic and shady salesmen) lessons and hope.

read this in grade 5 and loved it

This novel tells the story of young people who hang their hopes on wishes and what happens when wishes come true. This children's book was recommended to me by my brother, who commented that it has some good lessons without being preachy, and I agree. There are good morals hidden in entertaining tales of hopes and dashed hopes and lessons learned. I think it ties together a bit too cleanly at the end, but overall a good read. My brother suggested it is a good read aloud and I can see that as well, especially for elementary school age children.

This was an amazing book I loved it to the core