53 pages • 1 hour read
Chris ColferThe Wishing Spell
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 3-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 3 Summary: “A Birthday Surprise”
The next day at school, the students present their fairy-tale papers to the class. Alex illustrates how “Cinderella” is about hope. Even when it seemed like nothing would ever be all right, Cinderella remained hopeful and got her happily-ever-after. As Alex finishes her presentation, she wonders if “Cinderella” is really about hope or if hope is “what she needed ‘Cinderella’ to be about” (45). Conner discusses how “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” is about how the village placed unreasonable expectations on the boy, adding that the boy wouldn’t have gotten eaten if his parents had been watching him.
The teacher praises Alex’s presentation but does not find Conner’s worth her time. Conner spends the rest of the day feeling worthless and wishing his dad were still alive. He remembers a story his dad told about a fish that wished for legs so it could play with human kids. One of the kids fell in the lake and drowned, but the fish couldn’t save him because it no longer had fins. The memory cheers Conner up a little.
When the twins get home from school, their grandmother is there to surprise them for their birthday. She brought presents and lots of food to make a special dinner. After a huge dinner, Alex and Conner open the presents, which are books for Alex, candy for Conner, and mementos from their grandmother’s travels around the world for both. Their grandmother also gives them the Land of Stories book she used to read fairy tales from when the twins were younger, which Alex takes with her to bed that night. Just as she’s falling asleep, she hears an odd buzzing noise come from the book and the pages start to glow.
Chapter 4 Summary: “The Land of Stories”
Alex is quiet and secretive for the next week, which concerns Conner. He hears a strange humming noise coming from her room, but Alex pushes away his questions. One day, Conner hears the humming in class. Alex rushes out to use the bathroom, taking her backpack. Conner is suspicious and says he needs to see the nurse to get out of class. He follows Alex to the bathroom, where Alex has the Land of Stories. As they watch, the book starts to hum and glow. Alex opens the book. The pictures and writing are gone, and the pages “seemed to be made out of pure light” (70).
Alex places a pencil on the glowing pages, and it sinks into the book. She believes the book is a portal, but she doesn’t know where it leads. Conner argues they need to get rid of the book, but Alex refuses because she wants to find out what the book is. They go back to class, where the book starts humming again. The teacher traces the sound to Alex’s bag, but Conner throws a textbook before Alex is forced to reveal the Land of Stories. After school, the teacher keeps Conner for detention, offering to find him and Alex some after-school activities they can use as an escape from their home troubles. The word “escape” makes Conner realize Alex is going to go through the book, and he bolts out of detention.
At home, the book starts glowing again, and Alex shuts herself in her room. She places a few more things on the pages and watches them disappear before slowly putting her hand into the book. Conner bursts into her room, yelling for her to stop. Alex is so startled that she falls into the book. Conner jumps in after her.
Chapters 3-4 Analysis
Alex and Conner’s reports in Chapter 3 show the ever-changing nature of fairy tales. “Cinderella” has been given many meanings from anti-feminist messages to staying true to oneself. Alex uses “Cinderella’s” storyline to make an argument for the story representing hope, showing how fairy tales can take on new meanings based on what someone needs them to mean and how they can have hidden meanings. The message of hope foreshadows Cinderella naming her daughter Hope at the end of the book. Conner’s interpretation of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” shows that fairy tales don’t have to be complicated. The lessons he finds are not as deep or meaningful as Alex’s, but they are still things the story tells its readers.
These chapters contain foreshadowing. The story about the walking fish, like the one about the curvy trees, foreshadows that Alex and Conner’s dad is from the fairy-tale world. In addition, it foreshadows Alex and Conner’s discovery that they are part fairy, as does the book activating the portal in Alex’s presence.
Chapter 4 is the first moment we see that Alex and Conner will do anything to protect one another. Up until this point, Conner has fallen asleep or not paid attention in class, which are harmless, if not ideal, behaviors. Here, he throws a book at their teacher to keep the Land of Stories a secret and so Alex doesn’t get in trouble for having a strange book at school. The teacher assigning Conner detention shows that even acts done for someone else can be wrong. Violence is not an acceptable response to this situation, even if Conner didn’t mean any harm and was just trying to protect his sister.
