Mostly Magic

Matter-of-Fact Magic

by Ruth Chew

While Dick and Emily's parents are at work a new plumber comes to fix a leak, bringing a magic stepladder

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Chapter Books, Fiction, Young Adult

126 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Ruth Chew is the author of a number of popular books for young readers, including Secondhand Magic and The Wednesday Witch. She was born in Minneapolis and grew up in Washington, D.C. She studied art at the Corcoran School of Art and worked as a fashion artist. She was the mother of five children.

Reviews

[HeavyReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ruth Chew=unsupervised 11 year olds+magic. Few other things could be so fun.

[Ginna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this @a thrift store Friday. I loved Ruth Chew growing up. Interesting to look @ her now. Though I enjoy the stories, the formula is pretty much the same in most of her books. As an earlier commenter noted- "unsupervised 11-year-olds + magic = fun"
I think the intended audience must be about 7 or 8 though - very simple sentence construction.

[Cheryl A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man I would have loved this as a child. Loved to imagine all I could do with the magic props in the book. Even now I sure do wish either could be invented! But even then I would've thought it odd that two young children were left not only alone, but in wait to let in the plumber. They don't even have a trusted neighbor!

Also, do not step on the red rungs at the top of the ladder. They're not steps, & they're not magic. They're a shelf for your tools. Stepping up there will make it very likely you'll tip over and break something.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful - even our three year old loves this one!

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magic stepladder and pencil left by the handyman lead to troublesome adventures.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A magical story, cute like all Ruth's books I've read so far.
Thought I'd read it as a kid but not.

This story has a brother and sister encountering a plumber and magic and fun ensue!

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Siblings have a slew of magical adventures when a strange plumber comes to their house to fix a leak.

[Crystal Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruth Chew was one of my favorite authors during my childhood. I have fond memories of reading her Witch books. They fostered my love for children's literature.