Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism facts for kids
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| Author | Georgia Byng |
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| Cover artist | Amy Ryan |
| Country | UK, US |
| Language | English |
| Series | Molly Moon |
| Genre | Children's novel Fantasy fiction |
| Publisher | HarperCollins, Macmillan Children's Books |
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Publication date
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2002 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, paperback) |
| Pages | 371 |
| ISBN | 0-330-39985-3 |
| OCLC | 52146106 |
| Followed by | Molly Moon Stops the World |
Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism is a children's novel written by British author Georgia Byng. It was first published in 2002. This book is the first of six exciting stories in the Molly Moon series. A movie based on the book, called Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism, came out on April 11, 2015.
Contents
Molly Moon's Adventure Begins
The story is about a girl named Molly Moon. She lives a rather dull life at Hardwick House Orphanage in Briersville, England. Molly is an orphan, and her best friend is Rocky Scarlet, who also lives at the orphanage. Molly is described as having a "potato" nose and wobbly knees. She often faces unkindness from Ms. Adderstone, who runs the orphanage, and a snobby orphan girl named Hazel.
One day, after a fight with Rocky, Molly goes to the town library. There, she finds a mysterious book about hypnotism. It was placed in the wrong section because part of its title was missing. Intrigued, Molly secretly takes the book back to the orphanage to read it.
Discovering Hypnotic Powers
Molly pretends to be sick so she can study the book without being disturbed. She notices that two important chapters, "Voice-Only Hypnosis" and "Long Distance Hypnosis," are missing. Soon after, Molly learns that Rocky has been adopted and moved to America. Determined to see her friend again, Molly practices the hypnotism techniques from her book.
Her first success is hypnotizing Petula, the orphanage dog. Later, she manages to hypnotize Ms. Adderstone and Edna, the orphanage chef. Using her new skill, Molly wins a lot of money in a local talent show. She hypnotizes the audience into believing she is a fantastic singer and dancer. With her winnings, Molly flies to New York City, taking Petula with her. Before she leaves, she also hypnotizes Ms. Adderstone and Edna to be kind to all the children.
New York City and a Tricky Villain
In New York, Molly uses her hypnotism to get the main role in a Broadway musical called "Stars on Mars." She takes the part from a child star named Davina Nuttel. The show becomes a huge hit! This success catches the eye of a man named Simon Nockman. He pretends to be a hypnosis professor, but he's actually a criminal. Nockman figures out that Molly must have the hypnotism book.
After one of Molly's performances, Nockman kidnaps Petula. He threatens to harm Petula if Molly doesn't do what he says. Molly can't hypnotize him because he wears special anti-hypnosis glasses. Nockman orders Molly to use her powers to steal valuable jewels from a bank for him.
Teamwork and a Happy Ending
Molly feels she has no choice but to agree. During the robbery, she is surprised to find Rocky there! He has also learned hypnotism. Rocky reveals that he found and studied the missing chapters of Molly's book. He had wanted to take Molly with him when he was adopted, but couldn't hypnotize his new parents. He later left them because they weren't much fun.
Working together, Molly and Rocky successfully complete the robbery. But then, they make a plan to return the jewels. Rocky uses his voice-only hypnotism to convince Nockman to stop his life of crime. They return the stolen jewels by hiding them in hollow garden gnomes around the city. Molly does keep one diamond that Petula found.
Molly gives her role in "Stars on Mars" back to Davina. She then returns home with Rocky, and out of kindness, they take Nockman with them. Before leaving New York, they use their hypnotic powers to record a commercial. It encourages people to be kind to their children.
Back at the orphanage, they find chaos. Ms. Adderstone and Edna have disappeared, thinking the children would be happier without adults. The older children have been fighting, and the younger ones are scared. With Nockman's help, Molly and Rocky clean up the orphanage. They convince the kind orphanage maid, Ms. Trinklebury, to run it with Nockman. The orphanage is renamed 'Happiness House'. Molly uses her New York money to buy new things and redecorate. However, it seems Nockman might still have some old habits, as he takes a camera, a lollipop, and some money from the children.
At the end, Molly is called back to the library by the librarian, Lucy Logan. Lucy explains that she is related to Professor Logan, who wrote the hypnotism book. Lucy herself is a skilled hypnotist. She had purposely hypnotized Molly into finding the book and keeping it for a month. Now, Molly has returned it.
In a final note, we learn that Ms. Adderstone became a pilot, and Edna became an Italian chef.
Main Characters
- Molly Moon
- Rocky Scarlet
- Petula the Pug
- Agnes Adderstone
- Edna
- Simon Nockman
- Ms. Trinklebury
About the Book's Creation
Author Georgia Byng finished writing Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism in 2001. She was caring for her newborn child at the time. In 2002, David Heyman, who produced the famous Harry Potter films, bought the rights to make the book into a movie. Also in 2002, the publisher HarperCollins bought the rights to publish the book in the United States.
The Movie Adaptation
A film based on the book, titled Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism, was released on April 11, 2015.
See also
In Spanish: Molly Moon y el increíble libro del hipnotismo para niños
