September 16, 2010

Forget-Me-Nots: Half Magic

This is a feature on my blog for highlighting books I enjoyed in childhood and the teenage years that I don't see getting much attention nowadays.

And I'm using this to be a post for BBAW's 'Forgotten Treasure' Day as well (although I'm a little late, sorry).  To find out more about Book Blogger Appreciation Week click here.

My pick this week: Half Magic by Edward Eager

(This was the cover of my copy of the book).

Goodreads' description:

"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."

There are others in the series, but Half Magic was the only one I owned. I think the concept of the magic doing everything by halves was fabulous, and resulted in quite a bit of humor - I remember really enjoying this book! So if you haven't read it and can get your hands on a copy: do!

Anyone else have fond memories of this one?

5 comments:

  1. I love this book! My godmother passed it along with the rest of the series when I was about eight. It's very similar to Enid Blyton from what I can remember but I'd forgotten it up till now. Every child shouls read it!

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  2. I've never heard of this book (or series), but it definitely sounds fun! Interesting that this is a prime example of "magical realism" before it later became popular in contemporary fiction, like Sarah Addison Allen. I guess themes of "half magic" have been popular for quite a while!

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  3. I've never heard of this, but it sounds cute!

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  4. I don't have fond memories, per se, because I read it as an adult! It really enjoyed it, though, as I did some of the other books in the series.

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