The Wish giver
By:
Bill Brittain
Main Characters
• Polly Kemp-11 years old girl who lives with her mother. She tends
to say what she thinks even if it is mean.
• Rowena Jervis-15 year old girl who is in love with Henry Piper.
• Adam Fiske-16 year old boy whose dad owns a farm.
• Leland and Lenora Wickstaff-twins with blonde hair and freckles
who live with their parents.
• Agatha Benthorn• Eunice Ingersoll• Stew Meat-owns the Coven Tree general store
• Thaddeus Blinn- a short, fat man with a big mustache who comes to
the town of Coven Tree who claims to grant people’s wishes.
Setting
• A town called Coven Tree in New England.
• It is a town that is familiar with magic.
• The story begins on the Saturday of the Coven
Tree Church Social.
Epilogue-Page 16
• The opening of the book talks about the town of Coven
Tree.
• Stew, Rowena, Polly and Adam meet Thaddeus Blinn at
the Church Social.
• Thaddeus explains that he sells wishes for 50 cents.
• The people pay him and he gives them a card. Each
card is good for only one wish.
• Thaddeus warns them to think very carefully before
making their wishes.
• He tells them that he never visits the same town twice
so they will never see him again.
Jug-A-Rum
• We learn how Polly and the Wickstaff twins became
friends.
• Leland and Lenora tease Polly about wanting to be
friends with Agatha and Eunice.
• Polly accidently tears Agatha’s dress and Agatha slaps
Polly and says means things.
• Polly makes her wish “that people will like her and
notice her,especially Agatha and Eunice.
• Polly is making frog noises and can’t really talk.
When she goes to say something mean she starts croaking
like a frog.
• Leland and Lenora tell Polly that Agatha and Eunice are
planning something mean to get even with Polly.
• Lenora tells Polly she thinks that Polly starts
craoking when she says bad/mean things
Jug-A-Rum continued
• Polly overhears Agatha and Eunice plotting to
do something mean to her.
• Agatha invites Polly over to her house.
• Polly says nice things the entire time she is at
Agatha’s and doesn’t croak once. Agatha and
Eunice try to make Polly mad but she does not
fall for it.
• Polly leaves Agatha’s house, not wanting to be
friends with them after all.
“Tree Man”
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We are introduced to Rowena Jervis and her family.
Rowena was esxcited because Henry Piper (whom she likes)
is coming to town.
Rowena asks her mother if Henry can stay at their house
and she says “no”.
Rowena makes her wish, “to have Henry makes roots in
Coven Tree”
She did not word her wish correctly and as a result
Henry starts turning into a tree. He is really mean to
Rowena and she wonders why she ever liked him.
Rowena tells Sam (a young man who works for her father)
about Thaddeus Blinn and the wish she made.
Rowena thinks of an idea to free Henry.
Rowena starts to fall for Sam and Sam tells her that he
likes her too.
“Water, Water Everywhere”
• We learn about Adam Fiske and
his father’s farm that doesn’t
have any water.
• Adam had to go to Spider Creek
to get water.