What do you think?
Rate this book
Magic Windows: An Antique Revolving Picture Book
A collection of poems illustrated with drawings and circular pictures with parts that can be moved by a ribbon to reveal a new picture.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
12 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1896
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 17, 2010
I thought these were just the most amazing, beautiful books ever created.
April 7, 2026
A reproduction of an interactive picture book where volvelles can be shifted to reveal another picture. It appears that it only has 6, instead of 8 that are in the original. Interestingly, the mechanism is also different. The original appears to have the image as one piece, and a spoke of drapery the middle conceals the changing point. This splits the image into 6 pieces, and as you move the handle, the second image appears star-like in increasingly widening spokes out of the centre. Seems to be some minor changes such of colours of borders in a couple of places.
Poems are a bit twee, but the interactive nature is appealing.
Poems are a bit twee, but the interactive nature is appealing.
December 25, 2021
This review was originally posted on my blog ladybookdragon.com
As some of you know from my Christmas Eve Traditions post, I read this book ever year, but I have never reviewed it before, so I thought it was time to have a review.
This book has a very dear place in my heart so I am afraid I am rather biased but I will try to give a non biased review.
This book is essentially a picture book, on each double page you have a poem on the left page and a relating image on the right that when you slide the ribbon across changes image. An example of the changing image is below.
The book only has 7 poems and relating pictures so it is only small but because of how the moving pictures are built the pages are double thickness so the book is thicker than expected for so few poems and pictures. However the illustrations are beautiful and you do get two per page instead of one due to the magic window element. The poems are very cute and simple and perfect for children, but for today’s modern children I am not sure they would hold a child’s attention but I am sure the moving pictures would have them hooked.
I’m not sure I appreciated this book as a child but as an adult I love it. I love the beauty of the illustrations and the simplicity of the moving images which work so well and the little poems that are so easy to understand and just make you smile.
This book is a reproduction of the original which came out in the Victorian period and for this reason I do think most children would sadly find the book boring but for the older reader I think they would appreciate the skill and beauty of the book and find enjoyment from reading it.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars purely because I love it to bits but when I was a child I would have probably given it a 3 out of 5 because I did not appreciate the poetry but enjoyed the pictures.
As some of you know from my Christmas Eve Traditions post, I read this book ever year, but I have never reviewed it before, so I thought it was time to have a review.
This book has a very dear place in my heart so I am afraid I am rather biased but I will try to give a non biased review.
This book is essentially a picture book, on each double page you have a poem on the left page and a relating image on the right that when you slide the ribbon across changes image. An example of the changing image is below.
The book only has 7 poems and relating pictures so it is only small but because of how the moving pictures are built the pages are double thickness so the book is thicker than expected for so few poems and pictures. However the illustrations are beautiful and you do get two per page instead of one due to the magic window element. The poems are very cute and simple and perfect for children, but for today’s modern children I am not sure they would hold a child’s attention but I am sure the moving pictures would have them hooked.
I’m not sure I appreciated this book as a child but as an adult I love it. I love the beauty of the illustrations and the simplicity of the moving images which work so well and the little poems that are so easy to understand and just make you smile.
This book is a reproduction of the original which came out in the Victorian period and for this reason I do think most children would sadly find the book boring but for the older reader I think they would appreciate the skill and beauty of the book and find enjoyment from reading it.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars purely because I love it to bits but when I was a child I would have probably given it a 3 out of 5 because I did not appreciate the poetry but enjoyed the pictures.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews