THE MAGIC HAT OF MORTIMER WINTERGREEN

Prepare for a wild ride, set in the 1890s. Narrator Kirby Heyborne draws listeners into the plight of Amy and Joshua, who live under the thumb of their abusive Aunt Vootch. When the children escape and team up with an itinerant magician, Mr. Mortimer Wintergreen, to travel to New York City to find their grandparents, Heyborne hits his stride, dynamically rendering the cross-country chase as the trio is pursued by outlaws as well as the persistent Aunt Vootch. Heyborne gives Mortimer's voice an easygoing tone with a lovely singsong effect when he reacts to the shenanigans of his hat, which gives forth items such as a line of laundry, smoke from a locomotive, bagels, and crayons--or refuses to cooperate at all. This funny, merry adventure is sure to please. M.F.T. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2016]