The Magic Carpet Slippers

by Dick King-Smith

The great thing about being 75 years old is that you can wear your slippers everywhere - Percy Sloggett wears his in the garden and to the shops as well as in the house. In time his battered old slippers need to be replaced and he gets something of a surprise when he discovers that his new pair are magic. They make him feel years younger and also make him strong and clever. Percy is desperate to tell someone his secret and so tells his friend's grand-daughter, Lollie - for of course children understand magic better than adults do. Percy's slippers turn out to be life-savers as they enable him to leap across the road to save Lollie from being knocked over by a car.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Dick King-Smith was born and raised in Gloucestershire, England, surrounded by pet animals. After twenty years as a farmer, he turned to teaching and then to writing children's books.

Dick writes mostly about animals: farmyard fantasy, as he likes to call it, often about pigs, his special favorites. He enjoys writing for children, meeting the children who read his books, and knowing that they get enjoyment from what he does.

Among his well-loved books is Babe, The Gallant Pig, which was recently made into a major motion picture, and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Dick lived with his wife in a small 17th-century cottage, about three miles from the house where he was born.

Reviews

[Riona Daly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explores the relationship of Percy Sloggart and a magical pair of slippers. Mr Sloggart always purchases new slippers of a different colour from his friend Arthur Lot every few months as his old pair become so worn out. On this occasion he wanted a blue pair, his friends had a blue and white pair that he was not sure about selling to him due to the price. The moment Percy put them on he became so strong that he hurt Arthurs hand when he shook it. This amazed Percy and he was curious to see if the effects were the same on anyone who wore them. However, he discovered it was only on him that their powers worked. The magical slippers had given the old man a new lease of life. He became very protective of the slippers and confided their magic in Lollie, Mr Arthurs Granddaughter who he loved to spend time with on her visits. Percy's slippers saved Lollie's life when they allowed him to run at an usually fast pace and push her out of the way of an oncoming vehicle. This resulted in both his legs being broken and he then decided, he may be better off without them. He wished them a goodbye, ensuring them he would never forget them.

This is a good book for reading to pupils of key stage one as it is of simple language, easy to follow and will draw their interest through the idea of magical slippers. The incident of Lollie nearly being hit by the vehicle will allow for a discussion on how to safely cross the road which is highly important for children of this age. The illustrations would also be of a help for children of this age group as it would give them a better understanding to the story and give them the opportuinity to link sections of the book with the matching imagery.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this book.
An elderly man wears carpet slippers all everyday, so he has to buy alot of pairs.
One day he buys a magical pair, its great till things go wrong.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

King-Smith really can craft a great story. This one was so beautiful it could almost make an adult cry. No wonder The Sheep-pig (or Babe in the movie version) actually has made me cry--just a little.

My reading group will love this.

I loved it.