Continuing on with my series of #booksthatmademe as a writer and reader, here’s two more: Edward Eager’s HALF MAGIC and SEVEN-DAY MAGIC. I grew up on epic high fantasy and portal fantasy, but it was these books that first convinced me of the pleasure of “low” fantasy — that is, magical creatures and adventures coming into the modern, mundane world. . It’s impossible to talk about Eager without giving due respect to his British predecessor E. Nesbit, whose books I also read and loved as a child, and who was — by his own frank admission — Eager’s chief influence. But although his plots were often borrowed from Nesbit’s, Eager has a light touch and a sparkling sense of humour that is quintessentially his own, as well as a reflection of both his American background and the decade of the 1950’s in which he wrote. . There’s something irresistibly sunny and optimistic about Eager’s books, even though his child characters are by no means idealized — they can be stubborn, fearful and prone to squabbling as any normal group of children. But although the kids inevitably get themselves into disaster by playing with the magical artifacts they encounter — like a coin that grants only half of what you wish for, or a library book that offers you a new magical adventure every day for a week — the solution to their problems is usually only a few good deeds away. . And even the disasters are usually hilarious. It always makes me smile to read the “Chickadee tidbit, chickadee tidbit, skedaddle skedaddle pow!” episode in SEVEN-DAY MAGIC, and especially the chapter in HALF MAGIC when Martha tries to cure Carrie the cat of half-talking (“Sick!” said Carrie the cat. “Sick sick sick sick sick.”). . Have you read any of Eager’s books? What scenes and characters stood out for you? . . . . #bookstagram #bookish #BookRecommendations #kidsbooks #childrensliterature #kidlit #MGlit #MGbooks #middlegrademarch #enesbit #edwardeager #sevendaymagic #halfmagic https://www.instagram.com/p/B-F_fHWgOji/?igshid=1l2697uqylm0d
