Wednesday Wilson Fixes All Your Problems

Volume XXVIII / Issue 33 - April 29 / 2022
Wednesday Wilson Fixes All Your Problems
Wednesday Wilson Fixes All Your Problems
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Wednesday Wilson Fixes All Your Problems

Author: 
Bree Galbraith
Illustrated by: 
Morgan Goble
Series: 
Wednesday Wilson
Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2022
144 pp., hardcover, $16.99
ISBN: 
9781525303289
Grades: 
Grades 1-4
Ages: 
Ages 6-9
Review by: 
Aileen Wortley
4
Excerpt: 

The lights dim as two sixth graders walk to the microphone to start the assembly. Everyone goes quiet as they recite the land acknowledgement. Then they remind us that today is the first of many assemblies for Poet-Tree month, and they invite the kindergarten class to come up and read their poem.

I hold my breath. This is it.
One by one, each kindergartner holds up their family tree and adds a part about their family to the poem. And one by one, each student does it perfectly.

Mister goes last. In a very confident voice, he says:
“My family is like a pizza slice.
We can be sweet and spicy,
And not always nice.
But we stick together in the pan,
And help each other whenever we can.”

Mister holds up his family tree, which he must have redone last night. Instead of a tree, it’s a pizza slice with our family as toppings.

The applause is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. I look around and see dollar signs everywhere.

Mister hands the microphone to Principal Webb.

“Thank you, kindergarteners! What a fantastic poem, and read so delightfully!” she says.

Everyone claps again, and many of Mister’s classmates hold out their Worry Marbles to show me they worked. It couldn’t be better advertising.

The unquenchable Wednesday Wilson made her first appearance in Wednesday Wilson Gets Down to Business. (www.cmreviews.ca/node/2313). In Wednesday Wilson Fixes All Your Problems, she still sees herself as an entrepreneur. Her current business project is inspired by little brother Mister who is so terrified of speaking before the school that he locks himself in the toilet. Mister obviously needs a worry stone to inspire confidence! This prompts Wednesday to sell her inherited marble collection to other equally nervous students as worry stones. Marbles sell like hotcakes, children gain confidence, and Wednesday has a backpack full of money to share with her ‘business associates’. All should be great in Wednesday’s world, but, after a gentle hint from the principal and pressure from friends, somehow things don’t feel right. Wednesday must weigh her enthusiasm for her business venture against her own sense of fairness and the desire to do the right thing.

Like the first title in the “Wednesday Wilson” series, Wednesday Wilson Fixes All Your Problemsis a fast-paced down-to-earth, entertaining read that includes plenty of humor. The layout of Galbraith’s text is clear and inviting with Goble’s attractive black and white illustrations reflecting the action and emotions of the story. Wednesday is a strong character whose enthusiasm for her ideas blinds her to possible repercussions and whether these ideas are completely ethical. Fortunately, her brother, Mister, old friends Amina, and Charlie, and new friend, Emmett, a convert from the obnoxious Emma group, provide balance in the story with a gentler rationale, and this allows Wednesday’s essential good nature and integrity to come to the fore. School life is portrayed realistically as are the interchanges and diversity of pupils and staff. There is loving support from her family that includes Mister, Nonna and same sex parents.

Throughout, Wednesday’s fervor for her ideas is revealed through her breathless narration and eagerness to share business terminology and concepts. Like Wednesday, readers will learn a lot from this novel about enterprise and justice as well as not to make judgements about people. And with Wednesday’s help, they may even learn a bit about business along the way!

Highly Recommended
Reviewer: 

Aileen Wortley is a retired Children’s Librarian from Toronto, Ontario.