Half Magic - Kids Reading
Just finished reading Half Magic by Eager, Edward to the kids last evening. It was a delightful read that the kids enjoyed. The magic was humorous - everything was halved - so before they realized this ‘quirk’ they had accidentally wished a cat to ‘half’ talk and their friends, who were on vacation for the summer, were suddenly ‘half’ way home.
Edward Eager has been delighting young readers for more than 40 years with stories that mix magic and reality. Half Magic, the most popular of his tales about four children who encounter magical coins, time-travel herb gardens, and other unlikely devices, is a warm, funny, original adventure. The title refers to a coin that the children find. Through a comical series of coincidences, they discover that the coin is magic. Well, it’s not totally magic–it’s only (you guessed it) half magic. That means there’s a certain logic to the wishes one must make to generate a desired outcome. Imagine the results emerging from inaccurate efforts: half invisible, half rescued, half everything! Half Magic is never too cute, and with just enough emotion to complement the magic, this classic is sure to hold a special place in any child’s library. If you love Half Magic, its sequels–Knight’s Castle, The Time Garden, and Magic by the Lake–have also been reissued in lovely hardcover editions, complete with N.M. Bodecker’s original illustrations and covers by Quentin Blake. (Ages 8 to 12)







I remember hearing about that book on “Reading Rainbow” when I was a little kid. I thought it sounded like such a cool idea for a story, I immediately wanted to check it out from our library, but we didn’t have it. I think I had nearly completely forgotten about it until you had mentioned it! Maybe I should go check it out. :-)
Comment by Pat — June 16, 2005 @ 11:56 am
Yes, it was enjoyable. The ‘magic’ was not outlandish - just fun. I noticed that some of the other books I checked out appear to be more dependent on the magic than the story line.
Comment by Gary Paulson — June 21, 2005 @ 4:04 am