Exciting "gave chase" p 63. More silly than scary. Not too many old sayings. Just enough flapper era for fun. Magic has rules, limits, misunderstandings. Not quite literal like Amelia Bedelia https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... But same, improved by illustrations. I could wish for color, but not too much in text to go by. Imitating mermaid (hands crossed demurely over front p 15), Jane was "combing her longish ungolden hair" p 30 is dark at 16. Not syrupy sweet, tempers do flare, accidents happen. Drawings spike curiosity. Title page has spectacled bearded explorer in Inuit furs, petting cat in basket, and looking sideways at similar plump bearded pirate holding telescope and sword. Are those cannon balls behind him? Second title page has mermaids holding turtle legs between them and banner "Oh Turtle". On p1, Katharine ("nine" p 68) stands up (before seat belts) beside Mark and Jane (12 going into "seventh grade" p 13 "twelve" p 67), had to search for tiny Martha ("seven" p 133) between parents, Smiths, in front. Is cat Carrie hiding under car blanket? already leaped out?In "middle of July" p 13, on their first country vacation, cottage is (called "Magic by the Lake" p 7. In the rowboat, girls and boy have same one-piece (black?) U-neck, no-sleeve p 12, boy-cut bottoms that bell out under water p 14 swimsuits. Some three hours from home in a Model-T (1908-1927), Mark catches a big turtle, who talks. By wishes, the whole lake is filled with magic beings "fairies .. Davy Jones .. Neptune" and more p 18. What happened to other boats and people? Did they see magic? Being sunset and dinnertime, maybe not.Mark grabs the tortoise's head, so he agrees to three more wishes. Learning from the book before, they ask for one magic adventure per day. "No grown-ups noticing" .. nothing scary" p 21. Except "nothing does" p 21 scare Turtle. A mermaid tows them underwater to a tropical isle, where they invsibly - pirates are "grown-ups" - watch pirate captain bury treasure. Hearing the children whisper, Captain Chauncey Cutlass threatens to shoot crew, but doesn't, unlike Robert Stevenson's " Treasure Island" https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...Aboard ship, "small, fat" p 43 Martha's p 40 "Pinch them, fairies, black and blue" p 38 to provoke mutiny goes too far, and "spirits" p 39 splash overboard. (view spoiler)[Turtle racks his brains for solution acceptable within magic rules, turns them into turtles. Mother doesn't notice and "dillydallying" p 46 slow walk to grocery astounds "several [kids] were sent to bed without supper" p 46. Sundown ends spell. At a dance, Kath and Jane wish to be sixteen. Mark wishes for speedy moonset to bring normal back. Upset boys blame "lemon cokes .. gone to our heads" p 70. Next day everyone (within range?) is cranky from less sleep. (hide spoiler)]
Just about the point where the children make the 'magic by the lake' wish, there's a panoramic scene forming a sort of catalog of what SORTS of 'magic' is in the lake. This is obviously strongly influenced by the children's formal and literary education, and especially the sort of library books they've read. Not surprising, perhaps, since it's initiated by their wish. But it indicates not only the scope but also the limits of where the magic can take them. Though they resist being made to learn things 'not on purpose', the rules of the magic seem to be didactic. Even at the beginning, it's not as 'chaotic' as it seems.I don't like the open argument that murders and mutilations are how things are 'meant to be'. This would be a hard enough argument for authors who are cynical and who present people of all stripes as thoroughly unlikeable to make. For Eager, whose villains aren't particularly unpleasant people, it's even harder to sustain. I understand that one should, as Ashleigh Brilliant put it "Be kind to unkind people. They probably need it the most." I understand that it's not possible to deserve either suffering or healing. But even people who DO believe in 'just deserts' (which usually translates out to exhorting people to inflict suffering on just about everybody as a moral duty) have difficulty convincing themselves and others that folk who are really not bad sorts are 'supposed' to suffer, because they're 'villains', and for no other reason. The peasants attached to the villas are every bit as much real people with real needs and rights as the landlords. People who weren't born with silver spoons in their mouths (even those who decide to become 'gonna get's' (as Hagar the Horrible once described himself)) are not thereby automatically deprived of legitimacy and the right to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'.Eager is evidently struggling with his native compassion, and in situations that are non-canonical (as with the 'villainous' Arabian trader in Half Magic, the compassion breaks free. But in cases where the story is already dictated by traditional versions, his bad conscience plays him false, and causes him to justify doing terrible things to people 'because it's written that way' (as Zenna Henderson once said as a sop to her own much-abused conscience).
Do You like book Magic By The Lake (1999)?
If you are a fan of fine children’s literature, Edward Eager is an author you should add to your list. Eager was a British playwright who began to write his own children’s stories when he couldn’t find anything suitable to read to his son. Just as author C. S. Lewis credits George McDonald for influencing every one of his stories, Eager gives author Edith Nesbit the credit for igniting his own story-telling imagination. His books are a lovely combination of realistic children and magical adventures.I enjoyed reading Half Magic a few years ago, but its sequel, Magic by the Lake, is easily twice as funny. Jane, Mark, Katherine and Martha are siblings who are staying in a lakeside cottage for the summer. They meet a magic turtle, discover that the lake is enchanted, and have a wonderful summer of adventures.The excellent writing, wry humor and constant nod to other children’s books make this story a booklover’s delight.
—Hope
Jane, Mark, Katherine, and Martha were at the lake and when they were playing there they discovered a magic turtle that could talk. The turtle said they could wish a few more wishes with the magic charm.Jane and Katherine wished that they could be twelve at very moment and as soon as they wished it they were taller and they were twelve. Mark and Martha tried to make them turn back to there own self again. They tried talking to them but Jane and Katherine just acted like a twelve year old since they were a twelve year old. Then Mark and Martha with the charm wished Jane and Katherine back to their own self again and right at that moment there Jane and Katherine were right in front of them. Jane and Katherine were back to their own ages again but they were over grown for their ages.
—Luvbooks
We're reading this out loud now. I know we're not reading them in the order they were published but we're shooting for more of a chronological sort of thing :-) The chapters take about 50 minutes to read out loud though so it's slow going.*** We just finished this. It took over a year and that really hurt us. We've read a bunch of other books in the middle. Now my youngest is old enough to basically sit through a chapter (not all take a full 50 minutes) but the language is old and at times sort of flowery, and I could tell we were losing him. My daughter's 7 and held up much better :-)it's still one of my favorites though, and I think as the kids get older they'll love it :-)
—Natalie
