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The Magic Hill
Blessed with making flowers wherever she goes, Princess Daffodil fears ruining her father's royal gardens and so chooses not to walk near them, yet when she finds herself on the top of a special hill one summer's day, the young princess finds the perfect place to let her magic fully bloom.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2000
71 people want to read
About the author
A.A. Milne
1,838 books3,677 followersAlan Alexander Milne (pronounced /ˈmɪln/) was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems.
A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, to parents Vince Milne and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small public school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.
Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, the Royal Corps of Signals. He was discharged on February 14, 1919.
After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff."
He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted".
He was 74 years old when he passed away in 1956.
A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, to parents Vince Milne and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small public school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.
Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, the Royal Corps of Signals. He was discharged on February 14, 1919.
After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff."
He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted".
He was 74 years old when he passed away in 1956.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 8, 2024
Pretty disappointing, and even a bit upsetting. I like the opening of the plot, and the illustrations are nice, but the “resolution” is inadequate at best, and crushingly negligent at worst. So much could have been done with this story- family growth and reconciliation, elevation of children and their needs/contributions, erasure of class boundaries- but, instead, it’s just a sad story of another beautiful, lonely, undervalued and over-restricted princess.
March 12, 2018
I liked that the princess was given a gift that could benefit others, without taking her fun personality away. Flowers wherever you walk? Yes please! 💐
April 24, 2018
Finding this little fairy tale written by Milne was fun, and though he did not illustrate it, the illustrations seem to do the story justice.
September 21, 2018
Cute story; simple and easy to read. My favorite though were the illustrations!
January 11, 2019
Picture Book
Beautiful illustrations, heavier on the text; sweet story about finding ways to live life fully and embrace your differences
Beautiful illustrations, heavier on the text; sweet story about finding ways to live life fully and embrace your differences
March 2, 2021
It was cute, but there wasn't much of a happy ending. I would have liked to have seen the princess gain some friends or the king care less about manicured pathways.
October 13, 2023
This is a sweet and delightful story about a Princess Daffodil and her ability to make flowers grow.
January 21, 2025
This is my 2 year olds favorite book. We read it ever bedtime and naptime. It is a simple, sweet story with beautiful illustrations. She also loves that the princess is named Daffodil!
October 17, 2016
Cute story with beautiful illustrations.
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March 10, 2014The Magic Hill can be considered a fairy tale book for it has magic; and it is quite a lovely book. This was a book my parents got for me as a child and has been one of my favorite childhood memories. It is about a little girl who gets a gift from her fairy god mother when she is first born that says wherever she walks, flowers will grow. At first it is seen as a curse, and is not taken to kindly by the king and queen. So they keep her in her room, and do not allow her to go play with other children or walk on their fresh cut green grass; But soon they realize how sad their daughter is that her gift can not be shared with everyone. They decide to give her a "magic hill" where she is allowed to do whatever she wants. It eventually gathers their whole village and everyone loves playing on the hill filled with flowers from the princess. I think the message in this book is very subtle, but very real. That children all of beautiful gifts, and they are often seen as a bad thing. As parents and a society, these incredible gifts children posses need to be shown to the world.
October 21, 2009
This is a wonderful tale by A.A. Milne, most famous for the "Winnie the Pooh" series. It is a short fairytale, with some classic elements: kings, queens, lots of princes and one little princess, and a fairy who blesses little Princess Daffodil with an unusual spell. The story is simple and the illustrations are charming; it's a great book to read aloud to children.
May 13, 2008
This is Rachel's all-time favorite picture book. I was glad when she could finally read it on her own because I still can't see what the attraction is?? At least it's short!
When I asked Rachel why she loved this book so much, she replied, "It reminded me of ME!"
When I asked Rachel why she loved this book so much, she replied, "It reminded me of ME!"
April 26, 2011
Cute, sweet.
May 5, 2011
Beautiful fairy tale written by A. A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh author). Love the illustrations! Used in preschool unit on gardening.
May 2, 2023
This is a story of A. A. Milne's that I had never heard of. It's okay.
January 8, 2015
A lovely little known children's book by A A Milne. Short, sweet & simple.
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November 23, 2018I didn't find this particularly exciting but my 3 year old loved it. Repeatedly.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews