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{{Short description|1983 book by Bill Brittain}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name = The Wish Giver
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = Thewishgiver.jpg
| caption = Paperback cover
| author = [[Bill Brittain]]
| illustrator = Andrew Glass
| cover_artist =
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| subject =
| genre = [[Children's book]]
| publisher = [[Harper & Row]]
| release_date = 1983
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]] and [[Paperback]])
| pages = 181 pp
| isbn = 0-06-020686-1
| isbn_note = (First edition)
| congress= PZ7.B78067 Wi 1983
| oclc= 9080819
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}

'''''The Wish Giver: Three Tales of Coven Tree''''' is a [[1983 in literature|1983]] [[young adult fiction|young adult]] or [[children's book]] by [[Bill Brittain]]. The "wish giver" in the title refers to the enigmatic man who gives three children a wish to make their deepest dreams come true, but [[Unintended consequences|the wishes are not worded carefully, and go horribly wrong]].

''The Wish Giver'' was the recipient of a [[Newbery Honor]] in 1984.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal#80s |website=www.ala.org |title=Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922-Present |publisher=American Library Association |accessdate=23 July 2015 }}</ref>

==Plot summary==
===Prologue===
The narrator, Stewart Meade (nicknamed "Stew Meat"), meets a strange man named Thaddeus Blinn in a [[Traveling carnival|carnival]] tent and notices something unusual about him. Stew Meat sees that there are three children in the tent who he recognizes as Polly, Rowena, and Adam. Blinn sells each of them a card with a red spot in the middle, for only 50 [[Cent (US)|cents]] each, explaining that all they have to do is to press their finger on the spot, make a wish out loud, and it will come true – exactly as they word it.

===Jug-A-Rum===
Polly, an 11-year-old girl loves to play with [[bullfrog]]s and her only two friends. She wishes to be popular, and have the school's two most popular girls, Agatha and Eunice, to like her and invite her over for a [[tea party]] in which they would pretend to talk like real ladies. Her wish is granted, but now she croaks like a frog when she says vain, mean words about other people. Her sudden croaking in the middle of class causes her to become the center of attention – amid much grins and guffaws – at school. Agatha and Eunice invite her over, but she learns during her visit that they are [[snob]]bish and unlikable people, and they only invited her to [[ridicule]] her for her croaking. She realizes that her habit of [[gossip]]ing and talking about her classmates behind their backs has kept them from befriending her.

===The Tree Man===
Rowena wishes that Henry Piper, a [[Peddler|traveling salesman]] she is [[Infatuation|infatuated]] with, but only sees two times a year, will "set roots down in Coven Tree and never leave again!" Her wish is fulfilled word-for-word: his feet become literally rooted to the ground, and he gradually transforms into a [[sycamore]] tree. Rowena finds out that he never really loved her, but only pretended to so that her father would like more of his items. She also develops a liking for the family's [[Farmworker|farmhand]], Sam Waxman, who helps her throughout the situation with Henry.

===Water, Water, Everywhere===
Adam lives on a [[farm]] that requires water to be brought in every few days, mostly by Adam himself, so he wishes for it to be covered with some as far as the eye can see. The next day, he is taught [[dowser|dowsing]] and finds the dowsing rod reacting at every turn. When he digs through the soil, a huge [[geyser]] shoots out which initially causes his parents, Edward and Sarah, to be joyful. But soon the geyser grows out of control, flooding the entire farm.

===Epilogue===
Adam, Polly, and Rowena ran to Stew Meat, asking him to fix their wishes, since he has the only other wishing card in Coven Tree. He accepts, and he grants all their wishes. Polly no longer says mean things about other people and thus never croaks again; Henry is restored to human form, but Rowena forgets him and dates Sam instead; Adam travels around the world to dowse.

==Reception==
[[Kirkus Reviews]] described it as "another entertaining tale of magic and transformation." and "Brittain's knack for old-fashioned, funny-scary storytelling makes this another playfully atmospheric tale of strange doings in yesterday's [[New England]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/bill-brittain-5/the-wish-giver/ | website=www.kirkusreviews.com |title=The Wish Giver | publisher=Kirkus Media LLC |accessdate=13 August 2015 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Portal|Children and Young Adult Literature}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wish Giver, The}}
[[Category:1983 American novels]]
[[Category:American children's novels]]
[[Category:Newbery Honor–winning works]]
[[Category:Harper & Row books]]
[[Category:1983 children's books]]
[[Category:Children's fantasy novels]]
[[Category:Children's books set in circuses]]

The Wish Giver - Revision history

imported>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: add {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}