The Magic Shop, #4
Written by Kate Egan with Magician Mike Lane, Illustrated by Eric Wight
Spoiler Alert! Magic Tricks are explained in this book (but not this review). This is the fourth in a series of magic books.
Mike is in 4th grade, and enjoys thinking more about magic tricks than the rocks he’s supposed to be learning about. He starts paying attention to the school announcements when he hears there will be a talent show. He’s pretty excited because he wants to do his magic act for a larger audience. His best friend, Nora has stage fright and doesn’t want to be his assistant. Naturally some interesting twists and turns take place in the story as it leads up to the big night of the Talent Show.
This is a nice little story about a young man who is kind, helpful and loves magic. It includes magic tricks and how to do some of them. The magic tricks are mentioned in the story and then an explanation about how to do that trick is included. It is very nicely done, and doesn’t interrupt the flow of the story much. A reader could choose to read just the magic trick explanations, or read them first if the explanations got too disruptive. This is a good story that just happens to have magic in it. It would be fun to read even if the explanations of the tricks weren’t included. Since it does have how to do the different tricks it seems as if these books would have a particular group really interested in them. It’s nice that Mike is such a good friend and fine example of good character.
It appears from the cover that the artwork for all four books would have been by the same illustrator. The drawings with the trick explanations are really helpful. Sometimes I’d read and then look at the picture for help with understanding the writing. The drawings throughout the book are nice for readers transitioning from picture books to chapter books. The reading level is BL 4.1.
Review by Cheryl Baker, Teacher, Mill Creek Elementary
Rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 3-6
The Magic Shop, #4
The Disappearing Magician
Written by Kate Egan with Magician Mike Lane, Illustrated by Eric Wight
Feiwel and Friends
150 pages
Release Date: June 16, 2015
Categories: Elem. – Fiction
Tags: Magic tricks, friendship, school stories, talent shows.
Everybody seems to really like the first one. I had no idea there were so many to follow.
I bought the series.
Thanks for the review. We have the first book and now I’ll look into the others. Students love magic tricks and this would be a fun way to mix it with fiction.