Magic by the Lake

These were my favorite books as a child. They are still fun - I am reading them out loud to my grandchildren!

I was introduced to Edward Eager when I was a young teen by my next door neighbor. The only book I read was "Half Magic", which I thought was a fun little book. Now that I have a child of my own on the way, I've decided to start building a library of books that I can read aloud to my youngster. I bought "Half Magic" and decided to give a couple of other Edward Eager stories a try. "Magic by the Lake" is actually the sequel to "Half Magic", though I didn't know that when I bought it. Again, it's a fun story. It is a little dated, but I think that adds to the charm. For example, the girls turn flappers, a la the roaring 20's, at one point. When the time comes that I read this story, I'll be able to pull out a picture of my great-grandmother in her flapper garb and explain what that was all about. All in all, I highly recommend Edward Eager for young readers. The stories are clean, fun, and full of adventure. I've heard others say that they are the Harry Potter books of yesterday. I don't know that I would agree with that statement. These are much lighter stories. Though I love Harry, his stories are way too dark to read to a young child.

I chose this book in school as an independent reading book since I had no clue what to chose and I found out I loved it! I had also noticed a few of my friends in my class (2nd grade) had also been reading it and had caught up to me and so we talked about it and we all loved it. And, now I have bought (with a year of my own allowance) all seven of Edward Eager's books about Magic. With the leftovers of my allowance I think I am going to buy some of his books that are not about magic.

~ - ~ ~ I just introduced my nieces, ages 8-11, to the Edward Eager books, when they ran out of Harry Potter to read. They love them, as I did when I read them 30 years ago.The adventures of these independent and adventurous children are always amusing and fun. There is usually enough sense of danger in the magical adventures to make them suspenseful, without being too frightening. I always enjoyed the author's ability to describe realistic brother and sister relationships. Some of the arguments in his stories remind me so much of squabbles with my own brother!~ I think "Magic by the Lake" was my favorite. The adventures were very imaginative and fun to read. I loved the chapter in which two sisters wish to be "grown up"- unfortunately, they get their wish, at least temporarily!These books are wonderful because they are no less fun now, then 2 generations ago, when they were written. This author should be on all kid's bookshelves!

This was a really great book. It is about 4 children who visit a lake with their mom and Mr.Smith (their stepfather). Very strange things begin to happen when the children make magical wishes. They visit the South Pole, the Arabian desert, and a mysterious island. I recommend this book to all children who love magic.

This book is the sequel to Half Magic. It is GREAT!!! Jane, Mark, Kathrine, and Martha are on vacation and spend the summer in a cottage on a lake with their parents. They have no idea, though, that the lake is magic.