Wet Magic

Wet Magic
by Edith Nesbit

Coward-McCann Inc, 1958







Genre:  Adventure, Fantasy

Honors:  none known

Review:  Four siblings, Mavis, Francis, Bernard, and Kathleen, invoke a real and old magic during their beach vacation. This leads the siblings on an adventure of a lifetime, when they are suddenly asked to save a real mermaid imprisoned at the local circus. There they meet Reuben, a boy their age who had been stolen from his parents and worked for the circus, who helps them rescue the mermaid.Together the five discover an underwater world of mermaids where human time passes differently than the  magical underwater time, and become caught up in a war between two parts of the ocean.

Opinion:  Though somewhat dated, the author is a talented writer and weaver of imaginary children's tales. The innocence of the characters and times made for a truly enjoyable and lighthearted read. I like how these older books contain black and white drawings of every chapter, as an enhancement.

Ideas:  I think this book would be great on a display honoring great authors that have written children's books in the early part of the 20th century. Another idea would be as a suggestion for a unit of popular old authors for a teacher to discuss in a literature class, with authors such as Enid Blyton.