Mrs. Coverlet's Magicians

Mrs. Coverlet #2

by Mary Nash, Garrett Price (Illustrator)

Once again Mrs. Coverlet is obliged to forsake her beloved Persevers -- this time for a most happy reason. Her recipe for Chocolate Stale Bread Delight gives her a first-round victory in a baking contest, and she has to go to New York to compete in the final Bake-Off. Malcolm and Molly and Toad Persever are not to be left alone again. Miss Eva Penalty will move right in with them. This plan, approved from necessity by Malcolm and Molly, is too much for Toad, who loathes the sticky spinster. Packing all six of his cats in a pillowcase, he leaves home. but Malcolm and Molly foil his run-away attempt, so he has to take, as he says, "other steps." Toad knows the time has come for him to resort to something he has saved fro just such an emergency -- his Do-It-Yourself Book of Practical Witchcraft. The manual includes, among many interesting chapters, one entitled "Hexes and Evil Eyes," and another called "How to Make Your Enemies Powerless." The results he obtains are really astounding.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Christmas, Magic, Middle Grade, Humor, Fantasy

190 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Mary Josephine Nash Baldwin (born 1947) is an Irish historian living in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain). She has specialized in the study of the history of women and feminism in Spain.

In 1967, she graduated from the National University of Ireland, and in 1975 she obtained a licentiate in philosophy and letters at the University of Barcelona. She received her doctorate there in 1977 in the specialty of modern history, with the thesis La mujer en las organizaciones políticas de izquierdas en España, 1931–1939. In 1982, she was one of the founders of the Women's Historical Research Center at the University of Barcelona.[3]

In 1984, she won the Emilia Pardo Bazán prize for her work Presencia y protagonismo. Aspectos de la historia de las mujeres. In 1995, the Generalitat de Catalunya awarded her the Creu de Sant Jordi.[4] In 2008 she received the President Macià Working Medal.[5] In 2010 she became a Doctor Honoris Causa at the University of Granada.[6]

She is one of the directors of Arenal, Journal of Women's History [es], has collaborated with UNESCO, and was president of the Spanish Association for Women's History Research (AEIHM) from 1991 to 1997.[7]

She is a Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Barcelona.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like its predecessor, this story of the doings of three children (once again left to their own devices in the absence of both their father and a beloved housekeeper) was lightly amusing and a fast read. I probably would have enjoyed it a lot had I read it as a kid, but despite pretty good characterization and agreeably tart dialogue, it doesn't have a lot to offer an adult reader of children's books, and it's not one I expect to reread. That said, I was amused by the names of the kittens in the story (one is called "John Napkin") and I also enjoyed the Christmas setting. A lot of the plot concerns the two older siblings trying to arrange Christmas for their younger brother so as to keep his belief in Santa alive. Since this is a book I can easily imagine having given my older son to read when he was eight or nine, this makes me feel that at the time it was written (1961) children were expected to be in the know at a younger age than they are now (my son knew at seven, but I feel this was younger than was the case for most of his peers).

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glorious, as remembered. Here’s the story: several years ago, I was trying to find a book from my childhood but all I could remember was that it had a purple cover with a green face and that it was vaguely about magic. I also assumed it was written in the ‘70’s (it was actually 1961). Reader, I never found this book…UNTIL a few weeks ago when I went to see Marriage Story and saw it on the big screen. I think I audibly gasped.

After requesting this treasure through ILL, I was also amazed to see that it incorporated my beloved human snowball concept (which I discovered as an adult through Davy Rothbart’s story in My Heart Is an Idiot). It was a very fun experience to see my younger self’s influence on my current literary tastes. Thank you, Noah Baumbach!

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was published in 1961, the year before I was born. I remember my sister bought it from Scolastic Book Services at school and we read it aloud. It reflects the 1960s media fascination with witchcraft and the occult, though without the dark, scary twist it would be given today.

Ostensibly written for children, but when I re-read it with adult eyes I realise the adult author is winking over the kiddies' heads at the parents, making jokes that children of Toad or Molly's age in 1961 probably wouldn't get. Take for example the surnames: The Rev. Forthright, the Persever(e) family, Mrs Coverlet the housekeeper, Miss Eva Penalty the nosy neighbour, Mrs Seemly with her wellmannered kids. Also, if it was indeed intended for young readers, it was rather unpleasant of Ms Nash to spend quite so many pages shouting to the rooftops, "Of course we know that SANTA DOESN'T EXIST!!!!!" Granted, I myself never believed in Mr Claus, but even today such things are considered rather mean-spirited. Though with kids of 3 and 4 using the Internet and watching TV, with all those ads, how any child can seriously believe that Santa brings the presents is beyond me.

The Persevers find themselves on their own again, as Mrs Coverlet has taken first prize in a national bake-off and their father is off to New Zealand. Miss Eva to the rescue, though for some reason she just can't seem to get out of bed, the very morning after she moves in to look after the kids.

Toad, the youngest Persever, is obviously drawn from Mr Toad in The Wind in the Willows, with his selfishness, boasting, quickness to take credit for anything positive that happens, and tendency to get in well over his head. He and practical sister Molly act more like real kids than little-adult Malcolm with his tender conscience; yes I know there are "hero children" out there, but I found his reactions not credible enough to be the eldest brother--surely he would have been bossier. But then if you aren't prepared to suspend disbelief, it's best not to read the Coverlet books at all. No comeuppance is meted out, no lessons are learned, and the "magic of Christmas" covers it all with a glistening, pure blanket of snow and a hearty dinner that appears almost from nowhere. Must be Winter Solstice magic, as the kids don't attend church even on Christmas morning, despite living next door to the local reverend. Jesus is definitely not the reason for their season, and Ms Nash is emphatic about there being no Santa Claus, so it all sort of melts down into sentimental slush.

A very quick read, even for kids of the 8-10 age group.

[Qt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read, and it was nice to revisit the Persever family! I really enjoyed the Christmas scenes--they were very appropriate for the season :-) I liked the rather vintage feel of it, and while Miss Penalty is not my favorite character, I did like some of the other good-hearted adults ;-) Pleasant and humorous.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another childhood favorite. I had remembered pretty much all of the plot, so there were no surprises there. However, the dialogue was very hard to get into. The two older children spoke and behaved more like adults than children, and their condescension towards the Toad was pretty annoying by the end. I think I vaguely recall disliking the dialogue and characterization as a child, but the plot was interesting enough that I didn't care. Now I do.

[Nigham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I guess I am not a kid anymore. XD

BUT...

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I told my mother that I was spending this year re-reading all of my favorite books, she pulled out her favorite childhood books and so here we are! This is a cute and funny book, classic 1950's, although it was written after that time.

[Bella Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little tale.

[Jefry]

This book is about 3 kids whos mom is dead and there dad is in a buseniess trip in a tin mine and there housekeeper won a baking contest and went to New york. They were left with a neighbor and she was the stubborn kind. Toad the youngest kid was a magican but his brother malcom and his sister molly had no idea about it but then he starts doing unusall things for example he says its going to snow in loganbury where it has never snowed before. Also he finds a chritmas tree with a stick and spins around three times and says weird things. They have to get redy for christmas day. Malcom and Molly have to buy things for toad so his childhood wont end because he still believes that santa claus and that he will get a sled for christmas. So they asked Mr. Vault to let them borrow 30$. they bought presents for every one. Ms eva is always in her bed "Sick". They made the turkey but one of toads cat chewed on it. They had put the presents under the tree after toad went to sleep. toad left his door open and thats why the cat got out and in christmas morning the turkey was chewed on. They invited Mr. Bouncer and Mr. Forthright. ON christmas day they were really worried about dinner because Ms Eva Trough away the turkey that had the cats "germs". Mr.Bouncer was going to take plum puddin and

[Mommalibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weekly Reader Children's Book Club
I discover bread pudding. It sounded wonderful. It would be years before I ever got to taste. All bread pudding is measured by the standard set here.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, a really high 4 stars, I did that back-and-forth argument with myself about whether it deserved 5 stars or not, but then decided it was because she stuck the landing so well that it was even a question, and for most of the book it was 3 stars, possibly 4, enjoyable, sure, but not incredible. The ending, though, it all worked (and they're the hardest part, I think).

I was a bit irritated early on that it was Mrs. Coverlet's Magicians and yet (a) Mrs. Coverlet is sent away ... again ... and (b) it's not really a magic book, the way Edward Eager's books are, and (c) I'm over the trope of "difficult person comes to look after family and makes their life a living hell", however I decided to (a) suck it up, (b) enjoy the nebulous-ness of it all, and (c) appreciated that the difficult person was dealt with rather quickly and we could move on from there.

I'll say that Nash is good at mixing kindness, decency, bad-but-well-intenioned behaviour, etc., a sort of narrative stew that makes me nostalgic for childhood and other books like this one. Yes, everyone's white, well-off, presumably straight, etc., but those were the times, and books about gender-fluid mixed-race young adults dealing with addiction and poverty wouldn't have been published, so there's no point bemoaning the culture of the day.

Lastly, I'm grateful there's no moral, other than my walking away thinking that trying to be good to one another is a good thing, and usefully, an awfully transferable rubric, useful in many situations.

(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

A by-the-numbers contribution to the genre of "children abandoned by their caregivers" story best represented in Peter Pan and Mary Poppins, but is actually the ur-myth of many a children's story. There is nothing in particular that distinguishes the Mrs Coverlet stories from the usual, drab run of these tales. A family of children are (via a contrived circumstance and wacky coincidences) left to fend for themselves, and prove that they can just almost do it better than the adults who are supposed to be their protectors. The hook for this particular novel is that the two older children are both a 'Wendy' (a child playing the nominal role of adult to the younger children), while the 'Toad', the youngest child, is the one who proves to be the source of adventure and excitement.
I loath the character of Toad. I didn't particularly like any of the rather stereotypical and emotionless characters around the action, and the premise itself is obviously ginned up only to bring us to the climactic Christmas Dinner. A better author would have found more material in the Toad-does-magic angle, which is really not central to the action of the novel despite being in the name of the book.

All in all, a lazy and formulaic novel that has a problem pitching itself to any particular age group. Still, it didn't take more than an hour to read, and it was mildly interesting. 2 1/2 stars rounded up.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got my first, long-lost copy of this book through the Scholastic Book Club in school in the early seventies. Some train of thought brought to mind the title, and these days you can find just about anything on the internet. I wasn't going to be satisfied unless it had the same cover and illustrations, either!
The story is sweetly anachronistic, so "proper", that the dialogue and setting seeming at times as if it were set in pre-war Britain and not contemporary upstate New York. The "magic" is tame by modern standards (although a little creepy), like the witch doctor episode of Gilligan's Island; and the obligatory happy ending sets everything to rights.
Mrs. Coverlet's Magicians holds up as a fun "chapter book" read, and was a nice diversion into the nostalgia of my earliest memories of reading and enjoying fiction.

[Daniel Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this were uncomfortable. But the beautiful portrayal of the family and the siblings has all the charm of tradition.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful book!

[Carol Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ran across this old book from my childhood and enjoyed it just as much as I did then! Such a fun, interesting story!

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure I read this as a kid, though I didn't remember the plot. It's the kind of story I loved (and still do), where kids do relatively normal kid things and stumble across magic--or maybe magic. :) If you read the Edward Eager books, you'll like this (and vice versa).

[Elisheva Rina · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bland, old-fashioned book. I read the other reviews, and apparently kids nowadays believe in Santa? And this book almost spoiled it for some? So strange. Why would adults nowadays fool their kids with such nonsense?

[Zoe Lampman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mrs. Coverlet's Magicians by Mary Nash is a cleverly written book about three siblings, Malcolm, Molly, and Theodore "the Toad" Persever who find themselves alone for Christmas because their father's business trip is delayed and their friendly nanny/house-keeper, Mrs. Coverlet, is away to claim an award. When their loathsome old neighbor, Miss Eva, moves in to take care of them they are forced to eat healthy and no fun is allowed. Malcolm and Molly, the older of the siblings politely do as they're told, but their younger brother, the Toad, takes matters into his own hands and sends away for a do it yourself "magic kit." Soon, things are looking brighter in the Persever household. Miss Eva has suddenly become more agreeable and it actually snowed in time for Christmas (which never happened.) Somehow, the older children manage to pull off having a proper Christmas in order to make a good memory for the young Toad. The Toad prides himself on magically keeping their troublesome caretaker in a good mood and for the unusual snowfall. Did his magic kit really work? He thinks so, but everyone else has the happy turn of events pegged as a Christmastime miracle.

Like in many families, siblings are all different. Malcolm is good at everything, Molly is overly practical, and the Toad is the troublemaker, but in the end they all come together to make the best out of a bad situation. Many children will be able to relate to the family dynamics in this book. The Toad is a hilarious character known for being dramatic, confusing the lyrics in Christmas songs, and for taking good care of his six beloved cats. He will have 4th-6th grade students laughing.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember the days in elementary school when kids were given book catalogs from "The Children's Club," they could choose interesting titles their parents could purchase, and the exciting book day arrived in the classroom (before Amazondotcom)? I remember getting a funny book about how to take care of monsters and one about the boyhood of Abraham Lincoln. But my favorite was a Christmas-themed novel by Mary Nash (1924-2020), MRS. COVERLET'S MAGICIANS (1961). I woke up too early this morning, so I reread my old friend. It's a humorous story about three self-sufficient children--13-year-old conscientious Malcom Persever, his 10-year-old practical sister Molly, and their mischievous 6-year-old brother "Toad"--determined to do Christmas even though their adult caretakers--housekeeper, Mrs. Coverlet, and their father--are out of town. I still enjoy partaking in the holiday ventures of the Perservers, in a nostalgic world when milk was delivered by milkmen, doctors made house calls, and Christmas gifts did not need electricity.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you old enough to remember comic books with the tiny print, tawdry advertisements on the back cover? Amazing sea monkeys! X-ray glasses! Easy hypnosis! Then in the 60s and 70s, there was this promise of something wonderful and magical for a few dollars--as precious and elusive as those few dollars may have been back then. But we naively hoped and believed.

Those ads figure in the story of Mrs. Coverlet's magicians. Mom and Dad have a family emergency and must leave their three children with a live-in babysitter. To the surprise of the two older, more responsible children, Mrs. Coverlet is uncharacteristically distracted and disinterested in their day-to-day comings and goings. In fact, she hardly leaves her

As the two older children ponder the mystery, they wonder what was in the box their younger brother, rebellious and ill-tempered, received in the mail after Mrs. Coverlet moved in.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still love this book and the concept of gently getting an interfering supervisor-type out of one's hair. Even though Toad is amazingly egotistical (why yes, he is the youngest!) and the two older ones are rather stuck-up, I enjoyed the dialog still. I so identified with the older ones, and with poor Mrs. Coverlet when she found out what happened! A solid and comfortable read, though nowadays people would be horrified if children were found to be shifting for themselves like this... but who can forget the cats? Mrs. Coverlet's recipe? The bake-off? Toad's solution to Miss Eva? The Christmas that almost wasn't?

I do think the names in the book are not exactly winking over the kids' heads, as the tradition of traits-as-names was much stronger when this was written and some of those words were more drilled into the children of yesterday.

[Sheri S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book though not quite as much as When Mrs. Coverlet Was Away. I read most of it to my six year old but left out the parts which went into detail about the magical practices of the Toad. For that reason, I probably wouldn't recommend this book for young readers. I continue to really enjoy the names the author uses for the various characters (i.e. Reverend Forthright, Ms. Eva Penalty, Mr. Romain). I'm looking forward to reading the third and final book in this series.

[Margaret Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

IF YOUR CHILD STILL BELIEVES IN SANTA AVOID THIS BOOK. We did not know this before we started reading and it took quite a bit of editing - I'm talking skipping entire chapters - not to run into problems. My son is 6 and in many ways this book is perfect for kids his age; but the whole "let's be blunt about how this Santa thing really works" is geared more towards older kids.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book as a kid - I bought it with allowance money from Scholastic Book Service and re-read it a million times. There's no great moral lesson or anything (hell, the kid uses voodoo on his old babysitter) but I just thought it was great fun.

[Linda Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can just look at the book spine and it all comes back to me - the plot of course, and the humor, but most of all, the love of reading, the sheer joy of it, really, a feeling that began about the time I received my copy in the mail and has never, ever left.

[Luann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found an old copy of this book on the library shelf and thought it looked like fun. It was! How come I never knew about Mrs. Coverlet when I was young? Looks like there are a couple of other Mrs. Coverlet books as well, which I would love to read sometime.

[Kristin Aker Howell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet, Christmas story about children pulling together to care for each other, and their maid. Yes, the youngest uses Voodoo, and it appears to work, but that definitely adds to the appeal of this mild-mannered book. Longer review on my website www.kristinakerhowell.com

[Chris Zable · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading this to the girls and love it as much as I ever did, which is a lot.

[Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book almost every Christmas since I got it through the Weekly Reader Book Club in grade school. I adore it and never tire of it.