This was one of the first book reviews to appear at this web site. It didn't get much attention when the site was getting ten to fifteen page views a week. It has been revised and updated.
Book Title: Magic: an Introduction
Author: Betty Kobs
Date: 1976
Publisher: Raintree Publishers
ISBN: 0-8172-0057-6
Length: 48 pages
Illustrations: photos by Robert L. Miller, drawings by Barbara Ericksen
Quote: "Someone who does magic tricks is called a magician. A magician tries to surprise people."
Betty Kobs' introduction to magic tricks is intended to be easy enough for first and second grade readers. It might sound stilted and patronizing to third grade students.
The sleight-of-hand and distraction stunts explained in this book don't require expensive equipment or extensive practice. How does one soft foam ball become two? It was two balls all along, squished together in the magician's hand. Paper clips jump off a folded strip of paper when the paper is spread flat. Water in a glass will magnetically "hold" a piece of cardboard across the top of the glass, holding the water inside while the glass is upside down...for a few minutes.
Then there's always the reliable "magic" properties of the Afghan Band or Moebius Strip, a long strip of anything twisted just halfway round and joined into a circle. Cutting, twisting, marking, and otherwise playing with this circle produces many surprising and amusing results. Kids can work up a fifteen- to thirty-minute act using the special properties of the Moebius Strip, with just one sheet of construction paper, a little sticky tape, and a pair of kindergarten scissors.
Magic, an Introduction will allow eight-year-olds to entertain six-year-olds. Older audiences are unlikely to be impressed, although a ten-year-old sibling might claim to be surprised that the eight-year-old is able to perform for half an hour. But one must begin somewhere, and all these tricks are cheap and safe.
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