Bibliographical information:

Nesbit, E. The Magic City. Illus. H. R. Millar. 1910. New York: Sea Star Books, 2000.

Brief summary:

Philip Haldane resents his sister's recent marriage, and resents as well his brother-in-law's daughter Lucy. But when he wakes up and finds himself in the city he's built from toys and odds and ends, the adventure they share helps them to become friends.

Comments:

Philip's and Lucy's adventures are fun, and the book is full of wonderful lines. For example, when Philip sets out to find Lucy, he decides to follow a path, because "Girls always keep to paths. They never explore." The narrator comments, "Which just shows how little he knew about girls" (63). At another point, Nesbitt includes a page-long meditation on toy food, which concludes "But I am wandering. When you remember the things that happened when you were a child, you could go on writing about them forever. I will put all this is brackets, and then you need not read it if don't want to." (86-88) This kind of thing delights my daughter, who enjoyed this book very much.

Grade/Age level:

Grades 3-8

Cautions:

Some kids might be put off by the scene in which Lucy and Philip kill the toy lions.

If you like this book, you might also like . . .

Edgar Eager's Knight's Castle.

--Lisa Gordis

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