Review Detail

Andy the Elf has his hands full in the latest Elf Academy book, Merry Mischief, when his teacher’s niece and nephew become new students. He is happy to help them but they pull a ton of pranks that implicate the other students.
Andy has every right to be angry at their antics so it is with superhuman elf cheer that he gets to the root of their behavior and helps them move past it. It is a nice message that bad behavior may have a root cause and can be helped with patience and understanding. Most children of the intended audience may not be this emotionally mature so it may ring false to them. However, the fact that it introduces the idea is a start on peaceful conflict resolution.
This book is designed as a stepping stone for beginning readers to short-chapter books. There are illustrations, a cast of characters, and a word list to aid in this big step in reading development. At the beginning of the book, it felt like there was a bit too much text mentioning a classroom’s worth of children without enough plot to go with it. This made the beginning feel a bit contrived to be a chapter book for the sake of being a chapter book. However, once the plot was established it moved quickly.
Overall, a good stepping-stone chapter book for children ready to take the next step. With a holiday setting, it is a fun way to get in much-needed reading practice.