Half Magic (Tales of Magic #1)

Edward Eager, N. M. Bodecker (Illustrator)

$6.99

Publication Date: March 31st, 1999

Publisher:

HMH Books for Young Readers

ISBN:

9780152020682

Pages:

208

Description

It all begins with a strange coin on a sun-warmed sidewalk.
     Jane finds the coin, and becasue she and her sblings are having the worst, most dreadfully boring summer ever, she idly wishes something exciting would happen.
     And something does: Her wish is granted.
     Or not quite. Only half of her wish comes true.
     It turns out the coin grants wishes—but only by half, so that you must wish for twice as much as you want.
     Wishing for two times some things is a cinch, but other doubled wishes only cause twice as much trouble. What is half of twice a talking cat? Or to be half-again twice not-here? And how do you double your most heartfelt wish, the one you care about so much it has to be perfect?

About the Author

Edward Eager (1911–1964) worked primarily as a playwright and lyricist. It wasn’t until 1951, while searching for books to read to his young son, Fritz, that he began writing children’s stories. His classic Tales of Magic series started with the best-selling Half Magic, published in 1954. In each of his books he carefully acknowledges his indebtedness to E. Nesbit, whom he considered the best children’s writer of all time—“so that any child who likes my books and doesn’t know hers may be led back to the master of us all.”

Praise for Half Magic (Tales of Magic #1)

“Half Magic is a funny, charming, timeless book, as much a pleasure to read to a child now as it was forty years ago. Those who had it read to them then may even have an obligation to pass on the pleasure.” —The New York Times Book Review

* "Ingenious make-believe. . . . Satisfying variety, surprise, and laughter. . . . A book children will want to read at one sitting." —Library Journal, starred review