(You can listen to this episode here.)
On this episode, we reread Edward Eager’s 1957 book Magic by the Lake. It’s the sequel to Half Magic, which we discussed during our first season. We talk about our love for Eager’s magical adventures and our discomfort with some scenes that wouldn’t pass muster today.
Mentioned on this episode:
The Time Garden, the fourth book in the Half Magic series, featuring Katharine and Martha’s children
Seven-Day Magic, Eager’s last book
Also mentioned:
Edward Eager’s New York Times obituary
By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic by G.A. Henty (read by Mark)
Deborah’s time travel novels, George Washington and the Magic Hat, John Adams and the Magic Bobblehead, and Thomas Jefferson and the Return of the Magic Hat
The books of E. Nesbit, Eager’s favorite children’s writer
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
“Goodbye, John,” Edward Eager’s biggest hit song
Songs the children hear, sing, or request: “Paddling Madeleine Home,” “Do Do Do What You Done Done Done Before,” “Yes! We Have No Bananas,”
Recommended for fans of Magic by the Lake: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (Deborah); The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright and The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh (Mary Grace)
Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes:
Rereading Half Magic by Edward Eager
Rereading Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Rereading Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Rereading The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.
You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.
This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.
Rereading Our Childhood 