Children’s Book of Magic
By Anne Hildyard
Magic has always been about mystery. That mystery used to come in the form of spells, rituals, witches, and wizards, but today it’s used to bring us joy and wonder.
This book tackles the history of magic, magical effects (production, vanishing, levitation, prediction, transformation, restoration, escapology and teleportation [whew! I need a dictionary, do you?]), biographies of history’s greatest magicians, and 20 magic tricks kids can try at home. I found the book to be absolutely fascinating. First of all, it’s a DK book (Dorling Kindersley), which means large format and lots of photos and drawings. Second, I really liked how world history is woven into the text. Third, the magic tricks are clearly explained in both words and photos.
Young magicians should definitely give this volume a read.
Review By: Ellen Dworkin