Zoey and Sassafras: Wishypoofs and Hiccups

Zoey and Sassafras: Wishypoofs and Hiccups (Book 9 in a series) by Asia Castro; illustrated by Marion Lindsay 96 pages

I look forward to new adventures in the life of Zoey and her beloved orange cat, Sassafras. In this educational and fun series, the duo helps magical creatures who seek their assistance with whatever problem they are experiencing. So far, Zoey, and her mom, have been able to help through science.

I love books that focus on science for girls. My step-granddaughters, who are now 6 and 4, love Zoey also. The oldest seems especially attracted to science.

In this episode, Pip the talking frog shows up at the barn with a long, luxurious head of curly green hair. He has come to Zoey for help as he has no idea of how he got it. The trio retrace Pip’s steps into the forest.

Something is amiss in the forest. All their friends are having problems. Tiny, the large unicorn, has shrunk, the monster twins and stuck together, Pip begins to lay eggs and all the characters from the other books have shown up with a problem.

Fortunately, readers are introduced to a new character, a wishypoof floating in the air! When the trio first encounter her, she is crying. She believes she is the cause of all the changes in the forest, but more important she has the hiccups and doesn’t know how to get rid of them!

I thought that this would be the chance for Zoey to conduct several scientific experiments. In all honestly, she does have one that she works with on with her mom. But when it fails, all she does is ask the other creatures how they get rid of hiccups.

I was disappointed in this latest adventure. There was little science. I was heartbroken that there weren’t any at-home experiments for readers. We barely saw Zoey use her scientific methods and her Thinking Goggles. Therefore, “Zoey and Sassafras: Wishypoofs and Hiccups” receives 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.