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Science Fiction & Fantasy |
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The Literacy Bridge - Large Print - Half Magic: 50th Anniversary Edition (The Literacy Bridge - Large Print)
written by Edward Eager
Studio : Thorndike Press
by Thorndike Press
Publisher : Thorndike Press
Released : 2005-11-14
Availability : Usually ships in 2 to 4 weeks and eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780786279418
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 128 reviews)
Our Price : $22.95
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Product Description |
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With a New Introduction by Jack Gantos and Original Art by N. M. Bodecker Edward Eager's enduring classic begins with a strange coin on a sun-warmed sidewalk. Jane finds the coin and idly wishes something exciting would happen. And something does: Her wish is granted. Or not quite. It turns out that the coin grants wishes - but only by half, so that you must wish for twice as much as you want . . . |
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Americancivilwar.com Review |
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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) |
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Half Magic is Twice the Fun |
HALF MAGIC is a fresh, charming YA story about 4 children who find a magic coin that grants wishes. The problem is, it only grants half of what you wish for, so you need to wish for twice of what you want. Now sometimes wishing for twice of what you want is easy, and sometimes it gets you into a whole lot more than twice the trouble.
HALF MAGIC, by Edward Eager, is pleasantly written in a delightful, amiable fashion, perfect for all ages. Somehow, the tone, the style, the atmosphere, the language all make this book feel a little bit like the classic THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, by C. S. Lewis. The four children discovering their magic and then learning how to use it, the adults not believing in it, and even the magic not working for them any more after they had learned what the cosmos felt they needed to learn, all reminded me of the tale Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. But they are very different stories, each with its own merits.
My 11 year old daughter received this as a gift and really enjoyed it. She learned a bit about fractions, too, which is always a plus. I highly recommend this book. It is sweet, fun, and full of surprises.
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More Than Half The Fun |
Half Magic
By Edward Eager
Re-reading this book has reminded me why Half Magic was always one of my favorite magical adventures. This time I listened to the book on tape.
Half magic begins with the children wondering why they can't ever have a magical adventure like the children in their library books. Their adventure begins with a shiny 'nickel' found in a crack of the sidewalk.
Jane, the oldest thinks that nothing exciting ever happens and wishes for a fire. She only gets a small fire, in a playhouse. Next, their average, un-magical mother picks up the coin to use as bus fare. When she wishes to be home from a boring visit with relatives, she finds herself half-way home.
After the children realize they have a half-magic coin, their adventures become very fun and their planning is much more thought out.
Occasionally Jane, Katherine, Mark and Martha make mistakes in their wishes, which will change history. They also appear and disappear so quickly, their poor mother believes she is losing her mind.
Children and adults will enjoy the magical summer adventures in Half Magic. You may even find yourself re-reading Edward Eager's books many times, as I have.
Jill Ammon Vanderwood,
Author of magical adventures:
Through the Rug
Through The Rug: Follow That Dog (Through the Rug)
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Good Fiction |
Four ordinary children find a magical charm and discover that it grants wishes, but only in halves. Through their wishing and consequent adventures, the children realize the importance of helping others, love for each other, and what true happiness is about.
This is a humorous book that I would recommend to others. It is written in a writing style similar to that of Eleanor Estes, which suites the book well. |
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audio books |
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These audio books help children that are having trouble with the written word. I also use them in the car, so each trip we hear more of the story. The kids love them and I think it makes them interested in reading. |
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Much more clever by half! |
Edgar Eager is a master at telling a tale that is not only funny, well-plotted, but has realistic characters. In all his magic books, beginning with Half Magic, he reveals the reason why children grow up to not need magic in the overwhelming way they feel the need for it as small children.
What I will say now will not in any way ruin your delightful experience of any of the books (I remember secreting myself with provisions so that I could finish each one in one sitting). Eager very cleverly shows that magic is really not what children or adults want. What we want is happy endings and adventures--all of the tales have them. Each episode of encountering magic ends up revealing how very dangerous magic can be, since each of the children in each story ends up wishing for things before they've thought the magic's rules through. So there are exciting and unexpected turns of plot in each book.
It may seem like a criticism to say that these books reveal why children reading them can grow up out of magic of this kind. But in fact the gentle, exciting and challenging stories reveal to the children that not ony do good things happen without their help. But the magic challenges them to get involved in taking action themselves. They end up realizing that magic won't really get them everything they hope for, and it often gets them much more than they dreaded! These books reveal why Peter Pan is in the end a pathetic person, since he wants to control life and people to some degree, whereas the children in these books learn that exciting adventures can be found at any time and any place but that when all the magic's done they are understanding that growing up itself is an adventure and there really is "no place like home."
As a child I devoured these. I wish they had reprinted them earlier so my now college graduate sons could have enjoyed them at a younger age. An analogy may be helpful. My sons and I love the "Veggie Tale" stories. If they had been in preschool at the time they first saw them, they would still have loved them. The Veggie Tales came out when they were in high school--but they still loved them and continue to enjoy them with their adult perspective.
Edgar Eager must have been a very gentle, clever and kind man to write the books the way he did. He takes the reader on a wild ride, but leaves him happily on his own doorstep at the end, with the memories of their shared magic adventures. Hope you love them as much as I did...and do! God bless you! |
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