Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Eight: Edward Eager's Tales of Magic (Half Magic, etc.)

As far as I know, there is no official title that includes all seven children's books that Edward Eager wrote, but unofficially they are sometimes known as the Tales of Magic, which is how I came up with the title for this post.  Eager's seven books, in the order in which they were written, are: Half Magic, Knight's Castle, Magic by the Lake, The Time Garden, Magic or Not?, The Well-Wishers, and Seven-Day Magic.  I had read all of the before except for Seven-Day Magic, which somehow I had missed, but I am glad to have read it now (especially because it features a library book).  These books are all chapter books intended for kids, and they are light fantasy at some of its best.  Eager makes very clear that E. Nesbit is his inspiration, and his books are in that vein.  They all take place in the real world (and in America, for that matter, which is refreshing as so much fantasy is set in Britain) and follow real(istic) children who find magical adventures in everyday life, usually by finding a magical object.  Magic or Not? and The Well-Wishers are perhaps the least fantastical or the most realistic, but I always feel that they have a magic of their own when I'm reading them, and I certainly enjoy them as much as I do the rest of the series.
Another of the things I like about this series is Eager's use of intertextuality, sometimes referencing other books--often those by E. Nesbit, but not always--and sometimes referencing other books in the Tales of Magic group.  I won't go into the details of the plot or characters for all seven of the books--most of the groups of characters appear in two books, except the characters in Seven-Day Magic don't appear in any other Eager book, because the overall feel of the books is really what connects them.  There is a certain nostalgia, found in a certain kind of children's book, to them, which I enjoy every once in a while, and while the characters face their fair share of magical and non-magical problems, in general these books make the world feel simple and safe and surprising.  They're traditional, comfortable sort of books and while in some ways they are very much of their time (mid-1950s to early 1960s), in other ways they still feel relevant and worth reading.  They remind me in a lot of ways of The Green Knowe Chronicles by L.M. Boston, which I re-read last August, and if you enjoy those you'll probably enjoy these (or vice versa).  If you know a kid who likes light fantasy or if you want some easy, quick, light reads for yourself, consider Edward Eager's books.