Blue Magic

by Edith Ballinger Price

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

154 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1919

Reviews

[Alanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

As there is no description of this book, I will write a short one here. Fen is a seven year old boy who can no longer walk after an accident. His family takes him on a tour across the Mediterranean, in order to make him feel better, yet they leave him on the boat while they go sightseeing. A Blue Djinn (or a man called Thornton pretending to be a djinn, take your pick) entertains Fen with songs, travel experience, and magic.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a description: A 7-year-old boy with an injured back from an accident four years ago that prevents him walking is taken for a change of air in the Mediterranean. When they are on the Nile, a young man comes to the yacht to introduce himself to the family because his father had known them, but when he finds that Fen has been left onboard with his caregiver while the family is sightseeing, he decides to pose as the genie Siddereticus. Fen is enchanted at having his very own genie. Siddereticus magically produces scarabs at the first meeting, gives him an amulet later, sings for him, and provides other small gifts, all of which delight the boy. When they sail for Venice, Fen is worried that he will not see Siddereticus again, but the genie shows up there. The young man decides to follow and continues to act the genie for Fen when the family goes to the Bay of Naples to meet his Aunt Cynthia. Throughout the story, the young man's actions raise Fen's spirits.

I thought it was a fun, easy read.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a rare and wonderful book. Completely charming and not at all overly sentimental, beautifully written without being indulgently so. It is short, and though I would have loved more, honestly it is the perfect length for itself. It carries a bit of the magic in its story into the reader, something particularly rare and necessary in these times. It crossed my mind that JD Salinger might have read this or another of the author's books and been inspired to find his form there. I couldn't find anything by Edith Ballinger Price here on GoodReads, but I was able to add her and this book. I looked her up on Wikipedia, such a lovely sounding person: and I ordered another of her books.