The Magic Meadow

by Alexander Key, Dorothy Alden Smith (Designer)

Five crippled children in a hospital that has been condemned use their imaginary-travel game to help them escape to a magic world

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction

124 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

An American science fiction writer, most of whose books were aimed at a juvenile audience. He became a nationally known illustrator before he became an author. After he began writing novels for young people, he moved his family to the North Carolina mountains, and most of his books include that wild and rugged landscape.

His novel Escape to Witch Mountain was made into a popular film in 1975 and again in 1995. His novel The Incredible Tide became a popular anime series, Future Boy Conan.

He is known for his portrayals of alien but human-like people who have psychic powers and a close communion with nature, and who can speak with animals. In The Strange White Doves, he professed his belief that animals are conscious and aware, and have subtle ways of communicating, perhaps via telepathy.

The protagonists of Key's books are often ostracized, feared, or persecuted due to their abilities or alien origin, and Key uses this as a clear metaphor for racism and other prejudice. In several of the books (most notably The Case of the Vanishing Boy,) Key portrays some sort of communal withdrawing from society with a group of like-minded individuals. - Wikipedia -

Reviews

[Cam (Lana Belova) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This magical story I have so much love for has some subtle and fragile uniqueness I'd never experienced before. I remember thinking when I had turned the last page that I immediately want to start reading this beautiful, encouraging and filled with something evasively elusive tale again. The ending is open, that was another reason I started to wonder what happened next with those kids - Brick, Princess, Charlie Pill, Diz Dobie and Lily Rose - I am so fond of and feel deeply for, so I wrote this when I finished reading the second time around about their evoking all the feels ventures:

Brick has continued to learn the skill of teleporting and traveling in time, the knowledge of later seemed almost new for inhabitants of the Magic Meadow. And since his ability was really strong, he was teaching and passing the skill of teleporting for really long distances to the others. At times he travelled back to his time and place to save those kids who were in danger - like him and his friends used to - and Sender or another communicator from the Magic Meadow "city-community" was accompanying him. Also, he turned out to have a skill to invent and create new devises, based on his far-advanced abilities to telepathize and teleport.



Princess has learned to communicate with the deer, who loved her tinkling of a silver bell laugh, and they allowed her to take rides on their backs. She and Nurse Jackson took an everyday investigations of nearby areas, finding and discovering new things, the purpose of some, due to the passage of many centuries, was lost. Such beautiful and astonishing places they were to ride and walk about, giving the feeling to any person they were one with the sky and sunny hills with flowers.



Charlie Pill found a fondness in writing. It took him longer to recover and the books they found in bunkhouse drew his interest, the Dawn Singers taught him their language. He started to write short stories in his first language and also in a new one for better practice and just for fun - learning was fun for him and was allowing to perfectly spend time. Also, surprisingly, he took an interest in cooking, observing Nurse Jackson and helping her to prepare meals.

Diz Dobie became a mind artist, using a  device invented by Brick. Painting or drawing pictures by using his mental activity and drawing on an invisible dimensionless universe's fabric, and then sending his drafts to the Noosphere. Causing happy rustles, ripples and waves and making a change.



Lily Rose took an interest in drawing as well, but she preferred the paper. She had become good at creating new elaborate patterns the Magic Meadow inhabitants were happy to use in architecture.

The Dawn Singers happily took the kids and Nurse Jackson with them into their green and such a unique"City" I have no words for, where they were warmly welcomed and Brick had met with Sender, who became like a father he never knew to him.



The author's note before this story summarises so well the gist of The Magic Meadow:
"This book,
in which something most extraordinary happens,
is about Brick and Diz Dobie and Lily Rose,
and Charlie Pill and Princess -
and it is dedicated to all of you
who understands them
and feel as they did,
and have come to believe that
practically anything is possible."

I'm still thinking about the kids and the Magic Meadow place and fail yet to see how exactly did the meeting with the Dawn Singers happen, those tiny but interesting to know details are still open. I hope to see it someday and write down if I'd be able to :)

12 January '25
Oh yay! At the third reading it feels like that scene has started to unfold in my head...

The sky began to glow bright with the colours of the morning. Then a beautiful tune filled the air. Each Dawn Singer sang a different tone, but they all harmoniously blended together creating an intricate ripple-like effect that slowly descended towards them, tinkling like the little silver bells and softly floating through the morning breeze. A pink light flashed, seconds later the Dawn Singers landed beside them. What the children didn't know was that the song they had just heard was the key to their healing. It took a moment for the children to tune in with the Dawn Singers. This was what they wanted with all their hearts, to be in a place where they belonged, a place unlike anything they were used to back home. They stood next to each other, watching the dark surroundings lit under the glowing pink moon and sparkling sky and thinking they found new friends. A sacred moment in time that felt like a resolved ancient civilizations mystery they and the Dawn Singers would share forever. That filled them with so much excitement and happiness the children had never felt and experienced before, a moment that will stay in their hearts forever.

"Welcome, dear friends, to our world. I'm Sender, the one you spoke with. Brick, I always wished I have a son like you. You have a strong link with our place, your teleporting and telepathic skills are incredible. All of you, brave people, may our world of singing light and endless possibilities be your home."

"Janico", - Sender said turning towards the big dog,-"I owe you my everlasting gratitude for protecting this family I feel like I have known forever."

"Dear friends, you've come a long way and are now safe. I want you to meet someone. He is one of the Dawn Singers and will show you the hidden secrets you didn't notice yet but already possess those skills, and now have to learn more about their full power for your own safety. Thank you, brave lady, for keeping the kids safe in that horrible place I can't imagine being existed in the universe. You do have what it takes to become a true Dawn Singer, you are already one."

"We are so happy to be here and to meet you and the Dawn Singers, who saved these courageous folks, my special family. And am happy that Brick had found your world in the first place. Thank you for your warm welcome." Nurse Jackson said."

That's all, but I would so like to see more... Especially who the Dawn Singers really are... 🙂


Photos with the kids by Marzanna Syncerz
The mental image I had of Princess had a close resemblance with the girl on the photos. I also thought that this creator's beautiful photography gives off The Magic Meadow vibes when I came across the last shot with the kids :)

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have adored this when I was a child. I did, and still do, admire and am fond of The Forgotten Door, though Key's Escape to Witch Mountain was a little *too* exciting for me. After three books, I'm noticing that Key often wrote of this same sort of theme, of children who aren't just misfits, but truly out of place and deserving of finding a home. Several of them are on openlibrary and I will read more of them there.

You who are unfamiliar with Key might not want to start here. It's a little odd, a little awkward, from the point of view of a reader of the 21st century. Not bad, just different....

Interestingly, it looks like Key wrote in other genres, too... I'm not as interested in those books. Are any of you familiar with them?

[هاني عسيري · Rating 5 out of 5]

المرج السحري كتاب اخر من الخيال الجميل لهذا الكاتب ألكساندر كي العاشق للطبيعة والحياة المسالمة بعيدا عن الحضارة وانحطاط القيم والفطرة السليمة.

كتاب اخر كتب بلغة بسيطة وجميلة تناسب كل الاعمار من نفس مؤلف قصة عدنان ولينا. (:

تبدأ القصة بحدث غير متوقع والذي يقود بدوره للمزيد من الاحداث الغير متوقعه. ربما يكون لتسلسل منطقي للمزيد من الاحداث الغير متوقعة. احدها التخاطر وثانيها عالم مليء بالغرائب والعجائب حيث يكون هنالك نظام اخر للعالم. يعجبني كثيرا قوة تلاعبه بالطبيعة وتحويلها لمكان اخر بتجربة جديدة فريدة من نوعها.


وانا اقرأ الغرابة - وأنا من محبين الغرابة لهذا اقرأ هكذا قصص- في هذا الكتاب من خيال. لم استطع ان اجد شيء اكثر غرابة من وجود الانسان الكائن المفكر المهيمن على الارض وسبب وجوده.
اعرف ان هذا الحديث ليس له مكان في قصة خيالية ولكن اشعر انه لابد وان يقال.

لا توجد ابداَ قصة اكثر غرابة من قصتنا نحن البشر.

ايوجد اغرب من الوجود بعد العدم؟


وحقيقة الحياة الابدية لمن آمن في نعيم. والحياة الأبدية لمن كفر في جحيم؟

هل يوجد شيء اكثر غرابة من مكان فيه ما لا عين رأت ولا اذن سمعت ولا خطر على قلب بشر.


ايوجد اغرب من شمس وقمر وليل ونهار ونجوم وكواكب وبحار واشجار ومخلوقات عجيبة دقيقة غريبة ومفصلة لها طبعها وحياتها ومعيشتها ؟

ايوجد اغرب من حقيقة انك مخلوق ولك خالق؟

اكثر شيء اشتاق له هو رؤية هذا الخالق العظيم الذي وجب على كل نفس أن تسأل عنه. والذي أحب أن أجيب عليه كما اجاب موسى عليه السلام - كما هداه الله - فرعون
قال تعالى: ( قَالَ فَمَن رَّبُّكُمَا يَا مُوسَىٰ (49)قَالَ رَبُّنَا الَّذِي أَعْطَىٰ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَىٰ (50) ).

طوبى للغرباء.
والحمد لله على نعمه كلها.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have so much love for Alexander Key's writing, but I only ever knew about The Forgotten Door and Escape to Witch Mountain. What a delight to find new books by one of my all-time favorite authors. This one reminds me a little of The Forgotten Door and I loved it.

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five children and their nurse teleport from a derelict hospital to a beautiful meadow. This is brief and engaging read that does almost nothing I expected--it's effectively a science fantasy take on the portal fantasy trope, and the entire plot is a gentle mystery: what's the nature of the world the children are leaving, and the world they're entering, and how did they get there? It's successfully paced against the struggle to survive in a new place; I would have loved the cozy, perilous, mysterious atmosphere as a kid, but as an adult reader it feels a little sketched-in, particularly the ending.

Reader beware re: the depiction of disability. I personally dislike mystery illnesses as a trope, but it suits the general vibe. The children are partially cured of their conditions in the portal world, which is handled with relatively delicacy but still is what it is.

[ECL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now available on kindle, along with a lot of other Alexander key books

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

-------PLOT SUMMARY-------

Five children with strange names (Brick, Charlie Pill, Diz Dobie, Princess, and Lily Rose) live in Ward 9 of Belleview Hospital, each of them bed-bound by various maladies (we aren't informed of their illnesses, except for Brick, who was pushed down the stairs at his orphanage). None of them have family and are dependent on the state-run hospital, which meets only their most basic needs and never even takes them outside. Most of the nurses are cold, but the night nurse, Nurse Jackson, is like family to them and at night time, opens the screen between the boys' and the girls' areas so the children can all talk. They're imaginative children who take turns telling stories where they explore the bottom of the sea, or Martian societies or, their favourite place, one which Brick tells them about: a simple meadow with warm sun and flowers and birds.

One night, Brick discovers he is able to actually transport himself to this meadow - he brings back dandelions in the dead of winter as proof, so even Nurse Jackson has to believe him. And he can bring people and objects with him. He endeavors to bring his friends with him to escape the terrible fate that awaits them in reality: Belleview Hospital has been condemned, and the children will all be separated. But they don't know if the magic meadow is actually a safe place, if there will be food and shelter to sustain them.

As it turns out, it certainly can. While it seems to present dangers - no food, rain and cold, a menacingly massive dog-like creature that stalks them, and even a boat of mysterious people that flies overhead through the air - these apparent dangers turn out to be the very things that provide them safety. The magic meadow provides all: they discover food, shelter, blankets, and fire materials; the horse-sized dog is, in fact, a guardian of the region who intends only to watch over them; the flying boat reveals the truth: they have not traveled to another dimension, but to the future. Brick is able to telepathically connect with someone, who explains that the last city fell to dust more than a thousand years ago - but "We do not miss it. Our planet is a garden again. Today all men help their neighbors, and no one profits from another." The person sends them aid in the form of the dawn-singers, the people in the flying boat, who welcome them.

-------THOUGHTS-------

Alexander Key's writing reveals him as a highly sensitive, emotive person with an unfailing belief in the power of an earnest heart and human decency. The only other book I've read by him, his most popular Escape to Witch Mountain, has a lot in common with The Magic Meadow: several kind, pure-hearted children who consider each other family are deemed worthless by society/the government, but their psychic abilities transport them beyond the banal -- the base, degrading human-ness, "the spreading vastness of noise and ugliness and decay that was the city, with its pressing millions on their eternal grind to live" as Brick memorably puts it -- and transports them into nature, into the sublime, into the celestial simplicity of earth and quiet and books.

Key would have done very well as a Hobbit, I should think.

You know, though, it's the strangest thing. Despite the mawkish optimism of the book, I can't help but feel a sinister undercurrent to this little story, and I have no idea why. Perhaps because it invokes a number of classic nightmare tropes: there's danger, but suddenly you can't move your legs; there's a dark, predator shape in the night looming, and you're all alone; you're being watched and followed, but you don't know by what or who.

The Magic Meadow has a surprisingly diverse cast for a book written by a white man in the 1970s - Brick and Princess are white, Diz Dobie believes he is Indian or Mexican, I think Lily Rose is supposed to be of East Asian decent, and Nurse Jackson is Black. Nor are these merely incidental traits - Key specifically calls attention to anti-Black racism (there's a scene in which a white nurse supervisor refers to Nurse Jackson as "that thieving black woman" and claims she stole drugs and assaulted her, trying to get her arrested).

Like the children - poor children with disabilities and no family - the government has therefore deemed Nurse Jackson an outcast. Despite this judgment, Nurse Jackson and the children are good, decent people and because Key believes they deserve it, he gives them (and the wistful reader) a safe place to escape to. I get the sense that Key spends a lot of time thinking of all the deserving people in the world who he can't help, and this book is sort of his way of saying, "I can't send all those people to a safe place, but at least I can send these five children and their kind nurse."

[Psyche Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my all time favorite book from when I was a child. It is now out of print and I spent a small fortune to get a copy so I could share this with my young child.

[Melody R. Klockner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool, imaginative story.

If you've ever read "The Forgotten Door" and enjoyed it, I think you will like this one too! I'd love to visit this place for real.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time... I tried for years to remember the author and name of this book and then bought an out of print copy. Alexander Key at his finest. Also forgotten door!

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five bedridden children considered incurable are left to languish in an urban state hospital that's about to be condemed. The only escape they have is in imagining other places...and one such place is a beautiful, peaceful meadow. Turns out the power of their imagining is enough to teleport them there, along with the one nurse who cares about them (also anxious to escape). In the sun of the meadow, their bodies become magically stronger (not an all at once miracle cure, at least). But will this meadow, and the larger landscape, be a place that will sustain them? There is an undercurrent of fear in the pastoral landscape, the strange shelter they find raises many questions, and there is constant anxiety about food....Should they set out to try to find other people (they are still to weak to walk far in a day), or stay put, risking starvation, and with a scary creature prowling outside at night....

I read it in a single quick siting, and almost liked it lots, especially the practical survival side of things. But I am too old and cynical for the ending, in which contact is made by the locals who are over the top harmonious and utopian. And disappointed that we never got to read anything past the first contact to see if there was anything beneath the beautiful singing etc.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read many of Alexander Key's books some years ago, but I happened to see this one on Kindle and happily bought it. To my delight, I enjoyed it as much as I had long ago. I valued the unity of the characters and how they relied on each other. I would recommend this book to both children and adults.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this book as a child. It has long been out of print and I plan to buy it eventually.

[Douglas Beagley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shallow, absurdly wholesome treacle that splices Box Car Children with a Diana Wynne Jones. Of course I loved it.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a disappointment!! I mean, huge letdown. This book started out so promisingly, even though it is strongly resonant of a much-older story about a nurse who looks after children on the "incurable ward" in a hospital (Ruth Sawyer's The Primrose Ring)...but it all came to nothing. I began to wonder if part of the book was missing!! It's all build-up for a crisis point that never comes--the story is cut off when the "real action" might be going to happen; the encounter with people in this mysterious "ideal world" is never shown. Nothing is resolved and the reader is left hanging.

I wonder if I'll bother with any more of Key's works. If he's fond of hiding bricks under hats like this, I'll give him a miss.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

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