I found this book to be charming and humorous. I enjoyed the well organized plot of the story, providing readers with the information necessary the understand the circumstances and motives revealed later in the story. The characters in the story, a poor working couple, are very believable despite finding themselves in an unbelievable situation. While working in the ofrest, the couple came across an imp caught under a tree, and after rescuing him they were granted three wished. The combination of realistic fiction and fantasy made this book entertaining for readers of all ages. This book follows the organization of a fable with an important lesson to be taught: be careful what you wish for. The story had humorous aspects, one of which being the wife accidentally wishing for sausages to hang from her husbands nose. However, I found the bigger message of the story to be cliche and unoriginal. ( )

I really enjoyed this book, from start to finish. First, I loved the illustrations. They took up more than a page, and on the side of the book where the text was, there was just enough space for the text, and surrounding were the illustrations. They were detailed and improved the story telling. Specifically, on the page where the “imp” was first introduced, the illustration was very helpful, as I had no idea what an “imp” was, and not even a clue as to what it would otherwise look like. The picture showed a little blue elf-like creature with a tail and horns, laying on the ground in distress while its tail was stuck under the fallen tree. My favorite characteristic of the book was the plot. The book was about a man and wife whom hunted and grew all their food, but they never had enough to keep them from staying hungry. One day in the woods they came across an imp in distress, and because they freed the imp from the tree, the imp granted them 3 wishes. This brings me to the next great part of the book, the language. After the man and woman realized they have 3 wishes at their disposal, they discussed what they were going to wish for. “We might wish for fine clothes and silver. We might wish for a great chest of jewels... we might wish to never go hungry again..” but because it was dinner time and the man was hungry, he says, “but now I just wish we had a pan of sausages for dinner.” And sure enough a hot pan of sizzling sausage shows up on the table. Of course that was an accident and he really wanted to wish for something more substantial, so the wife argues with him and says, “Oh, you fool! Look what you’ve done! How I wish those sausages were hanging from your big nose!” and as you can imagine, there was a long string of sausages hanging from his nose. The language in the book was very comical and gave the book a very light, fun feeling. I found myself giggling as I read his wife wishing a long string of sausages were hanging from her husband’s nose. The book ended happily, and they used their third and final wish to wish that his nose was back to normal, and nonetheless they had a big pot of hot sausage that night for dinner. Although we know that this book is not realistic, it encourages the idea of ‘be careful what you wish/ask for’. Depending on the grade level of the reader, they might not understand that concept, but this book gives a good opportunity to explain what that means, and explain to children the importance of their words.

I really enjoyed reading this book because I used to read it may times when I was younger! This old, classic tale of a couple being granted three wishes for doing a good deed demonstrates to the readers that when given the opportunity, don't be greedy or hasty to take it without thinking about it first. The couple in the story ended up wasting their three wishes because they were hasty and then angry with one another. But then they realized that they were appreciative of what they had. That is the other lesson/message that the readers can gain from the story. Appreciating what you have is essential, especially for elementary school students. This book/story will allow students to have discussions with their classmates as well as their teacher and parents about what it means to appreciate what you have. ( )

Poor countryside couple stumble upon a mystical creature that gives them three wishes. Couple debates and contemplates what they should wish for. Not so easy task of just thinking up of wish(s), but the wishes are made.
Illustrations are outdated but easy reading for beginners and also each page can have discussion. Predictions, relate, What would kids ask for? ( )

Zemach, Margot. (1986) The Three Wishes: An Old Story. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.
This story is about a husband and wife who help free an imp that is stuck under a fallen tree and he grants them 3 wishes. They are woodcutters and are very poor and talk about their wishes before they make them in order to make sure that they are going to benefit greatly from them. As they are preparing for dinner, the husband foolishly comments that he wishes that they had a plate full of sausages to eat. They quickly appear and the wife is angry at him for wasting this wish so she wishes that the sausages were on his nose! In the end, they agree to use the last wish wisely before it is gone.
What makes this story unique is its humor and unexpected turn of events. It doesn't seem like a traditional story when the couple end up using up two of their wishes foolishly and end up with sausages, but it makes the story all the more entertaining. ( )