The Magic Word by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Elise Parsley

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For Markel Harris —M.B. For Grams, whose stories are mostly magic —E.P.

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THE

MA GI C WORD

Written by

Mac Barnett

Illustrated by

Elise Parsley

BALZER + BRAY An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

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On Friday night at 8:45, Paxton C. Heymeyer of 23 Larch Street asked for a cookie.

The babysitter said, “What’s the magic word?”

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It’s hard to say why Paxton did what he did.

Maybe he thought it would be funny. Maybe he didn’t like the way the babysitter was smiling at him. Or maybe he was tired of adults asking him to say the magic word.

But instead of saying “Can I have a cookie, please?”

Paxton C. Heymeyer said, “Can I have a cookie,

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a l a

a k

? � a b m o zo

There was a puff of blue smoke, and a cookie appeared in his hand.

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