Loading...
111th out of 819 books
—
2,090 voters
My rating:
add to my books
Magic or Not? (Tales of Magic #5)
“Lots of fun.”—The New York Times Book Review
Paperback, 197 pages
Published
August 1st 1989
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
(first published 1959)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
865)
Another wonderful book by Eager! I simply can't say enough about these magical books by Eager. Every one I've read so far has been thoroughly enjoyable. In this book the children encounter a wishing well and begin making wishes, but are their adventures a result of the wishes or just coincidence? One thing that is so great about these books is that the children really act like how kids should be in summer time: adventuresome, imaginative and full of play. And no electronics!! If you have even th...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book made me "never say never." Never lose hope. Thus, although I don't BELIEVE in my intellect that there's some world beyond this one, I can't help but have that miniscule amount of hope in my heart--just as the children in this book never could know for sure the magic really intervened in their lives, but certainly seemed to.
One of the Edward Eager books I missed
as a child. Laura moves into a new
home with a well that, according to
knowledgable sources, grants wishes.
What wishes will the well willingly
work?
as a child. Laura moves into a new
home with a well that, according to
knowledgable sources, grants wishes.
What wishes will the well willingly
work?
Wow... so I did read this book already! And I actually gave it 3 whole stars? Well, at the moment, I'm reading it again, because I wanted to see whether or not to donate it away. It looks like I'm going to because it's really boring, just like Half Magic. The Chicago Tribune says, "Inventive..... by all odds his best." So true, considering how BAD all the other ones were. It was even funny when Laura, the main character said that she loved the book Half Magic. Aside that I thoug...more
The first time I read this was to my daughter a couple years back. She liked the series a great deal. I would say its definitely written for kids, and appropriate for any age.
Of all the Edward Eager books, so far this one has been the best. It still is somewhat flawed, but the careful balance of reality versus the supernatural was well done.
Another delight. I can't believe his ability to capture the way children think and behave, and the constant and funny literary allusions are an extra treat.
This is about 5 kids who get a sort of magic that helps them do good deeds. Or is it all just a cowincidence? Read the book to find out.
Well i read this during my secondary years and i can proudly say that this book had me. That's a funny thought but yeah this book is great.
Time for a comfort read! Revisiting (for the umpteenth delicious time) the first of the two "wishing well" books by the great Edward Eager.
I have to admit, I'm ready to be done with this series. The stories are still fun, and I think that Eager does a great job of portraying real children. The major appeal, again, is the prospect of reading these books with my kids someday.
Rating: G.
Rating: G.
Roald Dahl era book. Not quite as clever as Dahl, but a good young YA book. Good kids with a wholesome story.
Lots of five and four stars, intrigue. Author of Half-Magic
Not as *magical* as Half Magic. But cute.
Magic or Not? by Edward Eager (1974)
To me, the kids' reluctantly befriending lumpish Gordy and then coming to truly appreciate him was the best magic of all.
Sigh. This is one of those books that I loved as a child and has not held up well for me. Not enough nuance in the characters. And the premise of the magic maybe not being magic but just a way of looking at the world was a bummer too. But the more I read the book, the more like spirituality it seemed to me. That it doesn't matter if something is "real" or not, just that you believe in it. That believing in something, if it causes you to look at the world in a positive way can hav...more
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.
This book, and "The Well-Wishers," were probably my two least favorite Edward Eager magic books, because he started waffling about whether the magic was really happening or not. I *hated* that! The thing that made his other books so much fun (especially when I first read them as a child) was that he wrote about ordinary kids who had real magic adventures. I don't know what made him suddenly start prevaricating about the magic, but I found it very frustrating!
edward eager's books are wonderful.
Edward Eager's books are classics, and some of my very favorites from childhood. The illustrations by N.M. Bodeker were a huge influence on me, and I loved the stories (you think Harry Potter is original? Hardly). These are excellent books, published mid-century, that build on a foundation laid decades earlier by masters like E. Nesbit.
The only Edward Eager book I currently own, I finally got around to reading this. It's lovely. And short. And simple. Which is fine.
I had never read this Edward Eager book - new family, new magic - related to the wishing well in their front yard. This time the magic is iffy - is it magic or is it coincidence? Or would it have happened anyway? I liked it - but not as much as Half Magic. Fun to read about Connecticut of my memory.
Even weak Edward Eager is a dozen times better than most books but this and The Well Wishers are his least satisfying books because there really isn't any magic. I like the Bodecker illustrations in all his books and in two other favorites by Evan Commager, however.
view 1 comment
Not my favorite in the series, but the kids who are LOVINGHalf Magic would probably enjoy it.
Another solid story in the Edward Eager collection. New characters this time.
While I did like this book, it is my least favorite of Eager's books. If you have read this book, please know that Eager's other books are far better.
Farida
marked it as to-read
I know I've read this before, but I have no memory of it. My favorites of Eager's books are Knight's Castle and Half-Magic.
I didn't like this one as much as the other Edward Eager books. I thought the ending was kind of weak
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
Eager was born in and grew up in Toledo, Ohio and attended Harvard University class of 1935. After graduation, he moved to New York City, where he lived for 14 years before moving to Connecticut. He married Jane Eberly in 1938 and they had a son, Fritz.
Eager was a childhood fan of L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and started writing children's books when he could not find stories he wanted ...more
More about Edward Eager...
Eager was a childhood fan of L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and started writing children's books when he could not find stories he wanted ...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
