Magic or Not?

Although it's listed as Book #5 of the "Tales of Magic" series, this book features all new characters and no cameos from the children from the other books at all.

I have the sense that Eager really hit his stride with this book. It flows more smoothly from chapter to chapter, and the adventures in the story link together better than in the previous four books. I loved the other four, but this one is just more tightly written and more satisfying to me. My daughter enjoyed it, too. She's not a huge fan of fantasy---she's a very practical almost-eight-year-old (perhaps too practical)---and I think there was great appeal for her in the fact that "magic or not?" remained a question throughout the book. Everything that happens to the children show more can be explained without magic...but then, it can all be explained magically, too. This ambiguity was delicious, to use my daughter's word (her word is "delicious" not "ambiguous"; she's quite precocious but I don't think she's learned that particular word yet). My daughter says she likes Magic or Not? about the same as the other books, but it may well be my favorite of the bunch, so far.

One more book left in the "Tales of Magic" series. I'm looking forward to it, but I'll also be sad to say goodbye to the books. I've tried to get my daughter into Edith Nesbit's books since the children in Eager's books like them so much, but aside from Five Children and It, she shows no interest. She says they're, "BOR-ING!" And this is the kid who reads field guides for fun. I don't really get it. Luckily, there are plenty of children's classics to read after we finish Book #6. show less

Whenever I read children's books like this, I try to keep my mind on the fact that it is actually for children and rate it accordingly.

This book was one that I have owned and read numerous times since I was a child and have enjoyed immensely. I loved the magic both as a kid and as an adult, but as an adult, I really enjoyed the way the kids were depicted. They were not always sweet (how they treated Gordy and how Lydia behaved at first), but they actually had some growth.

The writing was actually super well done as well and flowed in such a way that I could appreciate even now.

When is magic not magic?

Laura is a girl who goes out of her way to find adventure. So when her family moves to a house with a well in the yard--a wishing well, according to Lydia, Laura's opinionated new neighbor--Laura is all too willing to make a wish and see what happens. Plenty happens. Thanks to the well, Laura and her new friends help save Miss Isabella's house from foreclosure, rescue the almost long-lost heir to a fortune, and even solve the mystery of the antique desk.

But is the well truly granting wishes? Or is something else responsible for the adventures of that summer?

Read during Fall 2001

Nowhere near as strong as Half Magic or Knight's Castle and a little heavy on the moral virtue and literary references (including himself) but still much better than most drek out there now. I fail to understand, though, the strange appeal of children's writers of kids moving away from the city and out into the middle of nowhere. But magic is always good.

An enchanting book that I loved when I was younger.

Two kids move to the country and meet up with two neighbors, and the four of them go on adventures together. They make wishes in a wishing well in the backyard that always seem to come true, but not exactly how they wanted.

The best part is that everything could just be a coincidence, so the kids don't know whether or not magic is actually causing their adventures.

Very reminiscent of E. Nesbit's work, especially Five Children and It.

Laura and James’ family are moving from the city to the country, a whole new world to explore. Being an adventure seeking girl, Laura can’t wait. An old red house with a well in front….a wishing well!

A group of new friends — Kip and his dog Alice, Lydia Green who lives with her grandmother who is an artist, Laura, James and their little sister Deborah. Will they be good friends even with their different personalities and interests?

Lydia states that the well is a Wishing Well and Laura believes it is a real wishing well when her first wish comes true! Things do start happening, but are they wishes coming true or is someone making it seem that way?

Wished for kittens appearing, rescuing an “almost” long lost heir, saving a kind show more woman from losing her home, solving the mystery of the antique desks; each adventure brings the children closer in friendship. show less

Edward Eager's books were stories I loved as a child and having re-read them as an adult I still quite enjoy them. The stories and characters hold up to the test of time. These books are clever and intriguing and the characters are very endearing.