The Magic Moscow

by Daniel Pinkwater

Relates the adventures of Edward, grandson of a famous television sled dog, with his owner Steve, who manages a Hoboken ice cream stand

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Humor

Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Daniel Manus Pinkwater is an author of mostly children's books and is an occasional commentator on National Public Radio. He attended Bard College. Well-known books include Lizard Music, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, Fat Men from Space, Borgel, and the picture book The Big Orange Splot. Pinkwater has also illustrated many of his books in the past, although for more recent works that task has passed to his wife Jill Pinkwater.

Reviews

[Phil J · Rating 3 out of 5]

It might make you smile, but it won't make you think.

The Magic Moscow stories are Pinkwater on autopilot: malamutes, old comic books, sci fi, and junk food. The characters are nowhere near the mainstream and not even aware that such a thing exists. The sequels (Atilla the Pun and Slaves of Spiegel) are more ridiculous, which makes the "realism" of this installment stand out a little bit. Still, I guess, points for discussing the issue of puppy mills in a kids' book.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical ridiculous Pinkwater. Well, actually, it can be read straight, but adults or older kids on a reread will appreciate more of the satire and absurdity. Starting with the title... there's not actually much going on about The Magic Moscow, but rather the book is about Malamutes and the people who love them.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daniel Pinkwater is a difficult author to explain to anyone who has not read his books. I once heard him explained that he preferred to be addressed as "Captain Pinkwater" because that's the honorific given to trained lion tamers, and he claimed to be one. With him, it was hard to tell if either the request or the claim were serious, but it makes as much real-world sense as most of his stories. Many of them take place in New Jersey, which has become a weirdness magnet in his tales.
For instance, this story is about dogs, a restaurant that is half ice cream and half health food, television history, con men, and the beginning of a series of stories involving malamutes in New Jersey. There's a bunch of other stuff too, like the plot, but that is almost secondary, as the world building of this story is hypnotic.
The title of the story comes from the fact that a local has taken over a former chain ice cream place that had been called Magic Moocow, and he only had to change one letter to make it different. His changes to the menu are far more drastic, as you will see when you encounter his specialty dishes.
There is no way to explain the story without giving stuff away, but it is funny, in a deadpan way, and any kid who likes dogs will enjoy much of it just for that part...but do NOT feed your dog Hershey bars, as one of the story's "bad guys" does. Chocolate is somewhat toxic to dogs, and the one in the story eats enough that it could catch up with him eventually.

[Patricia Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one aloud to your children and have fun with it. Simply delightful!

[Eugenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Moron's Delight is one of Steve's specialties. It has six flavors of ice cream - two scoops of each - a banana, a carrot, three kinds of syrup, whole roasted peanuts, a slice of Swiss cheese, a radish, yogurt, wheat germ, and a kosher pickle. It is servved in a shoebox lined with plastic wrap. Steve considers it a health-food dessert."

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book in this silly little trilogy introduces us to our young hero, the snack and dog obsessed owner of the ice cream shop from the title and just enough plot to qualify this as a story.

Set slightly more in the real world than the books that follow, it instead focuses on creating a fictional locale that you'd be happy to hang out in.

[Robin Mandell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny Pinkwater goodness as always. Any time there are dogs than people you know good things are happening.