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Harry Houdini: Young Magician
Harry Young Magician is the next great installment in the Childhood of Famous Americans series.
Written by Kathryn Kilby Borland and using simple language that beginning readers can understand, this lively, inspiring, and believable biography looks at the childhood of the young prestidigitator Harry Houdini.
Written by Kathryn Kilby Borland and using simple language that beginning readers can understand, this lively, inspiring, and believable biography looks at the childhood of the young prestidigitator Harry Houdini.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 24, 2025
For young readers into magic, you get a behind the scene at look at endurance and perseverance. The first 80% of the book is about the struggle and Houdini’s commitment.
March 25, 2024
When I was in 5th grade, I started reading biographies of famous people.
Over a period of several months, I would read about astronauts, private detectives, founding fathers, explorers, and others.
And during this time, I had two people merge as my idols - David Crockett and Harry Houdini.
Thanks to Davy Crockett, I wanted buck skin clothes, a raccoon skinned hat, and moccasins. (I would, eventually, get the moccasins, and a faux raccoon hat).
Thanks to Harry Houdini, I got interested in Magic and escape artistry. Over the years, I would end up getting my books - either about Houdini or written by Houdini - as well as posters, post cards, and even a few sleigh of hand magic tricks. (When my then Wife and I went to Vegas for my birthday in 1999, I insisted on two things. One, to spent my birthday at the Star Trek experience and to go visit one of the local magic shops. For the most part, she was a good sport about the Trek one - she could play the slots while I geeked out- but was bored in the magic shop. I, on the other hand, was sad that I didnt have the money to buy so many of the magic tricks they were selling. I would end up getting a few $1 tricks and a poster).
Today is the 150th birthday of Harry Houdini. So, to honor my idol's sesquicentennial birthday, I managed to find a digital scanned copy of the first Houdini bio I ever read and sat down to read it. (BTW- it was a MUCH faster read this time around. Amazing what 42 years of reading will do for one reading speed).
The book is, for the most part, fictional. Yes, there is Houdini, his family, and his wife. And it takes place in the towns and cities he use to live in. And some of the events in the book did happen - when he was older and was more well known. But this book lives up to the series it part of - the CHILDHOOD of Famous Americans. Only, this childhood was about learning magic and helping to support his family.
The version I read, then and now, is the older, Orange covered version. I am told they have an newer, trade paper back one, but I wasnt able to find a copy of that one. Besides, why not go back to the roots of my love of Mr Houdini
Over a period of several months, I would read about astronauts, private detectives, founding fathers, explorers, and others.
And during this time, I had two people merge as my idols - David Crockett and Harry Houdini.
Thanks to Davy Crockett, I wanted buck skin clothes, a raccoon skinned hat, and moccasins. (I would, eventually, get the moccasins, and a faux raccoon hat).
Thanks to Harry Houdini, I got interested in Magic and escape artistry. Over the years, I would end up getting my books - either about Houdini or written by Houdini - as well as posters, post cards, and even a few sleigh of hand magic tricks. (When my then Wife and I went to Vegas for my birthday in 1999, I insisted on two things. One, to spent my birthday at the Star Trek experience and to go visit one of the local magic shops. For the most part, she was a good sport about the Trek one - she could play the slots while I geeked out- but was bored in the magic shop. I, on the other hand, was sad that I didnt have the money to buy so many of the magic tricks they were selling. I would end up getting a few $1 tricks and a poster).
Today is the 150th birthday of Harry Houdini. So, to honor my idol's sesquicentennial birthday, I managed to find a digital scanned copy of the first Houdini bio I ever read and sat down to read it. (BTW- it was a MUCH faster read this time around. Amazing what 42 years of reading will do for one reading speed).
The book is, for the most part, fictional. Yes, there is Houdini, his family, and his wife. And it takes place in the towns and cities he use to live in. And some of the events in the book did happen - when he was older and was more well known. But this book lives up to the series it part of - the CHILDHOOD of Famous Americans. Only, this childhood was about learning magic and helping to support his family.
The version I read, then and now, is the older, Orange covered version. I am told they have an newer, trade paper back one, but I wasnt able to find a copy of that one. Besides, why not go back to the roots of my love of Mr Houdini
September 10, 2025
How did a young man named Ehrich Weiss become Harry Houdini?
It is quite a journey! There were four ingredients that made him such a successful magician: his physical strength, his knowledge of locks, his planning of every small detail, and his great courage.
This book does a great job showing Ehrich growing and becoming the man we all know as Houdini. He was so famous his name became a verb: houdinize = "to release or extricate oneself, as by wriggling out."
As a kid, I devoured every volume I could find in the school and local library. It was a delight to read this particular one with J for many reasons. One was that when my son (J's dad) was in the 4th grade he had to do a presentation on a historical figure. Houdini was chosen and we got to work making a box for him to escape out of in class. We took one a big dark blue plastic storage box and used a silver sharpie to draw a chain and padlock on the outside. My son practiced hiding in the box and popping out. He also had some plastic handcuffs that he "escaped" out of --his trick was not quite closing them. 😁 J loved hearing those stories about this dad.
Our next read will be Farmer Boy. I have a new copy with color illustrations. We are both looking forward to Almanzo Wilder's adventures.
It is quite a journey! There were four ingredients that made him such a successful magician: his physical strength, his knowledge of locks, his planning of every small detail, and his great courage.
This book does a great job showing Ehrich growing and becoming the man we all know as Houdini. He was so famous his name became a verb: houdinize = "to release or extricate oneself, as by wriggling out."
As a kid, I devoured every volume I could find in the school and local library. It was a delight to read this particular one with J for many reasons. One was that when my son (J's dad) was in the 4th grade he had to do a presentation on a historical figure. Houdini was chosen and we got to work making a box for him to escape out of in class. We took one a big dark blue plastic storage box and used a silver sharpie to draw a chain and padlock on the outside. My son practiced hiding in the box and popping out. He also had some plastic handcuffs that he "escaped" out of --his trick was not quite closing them. 😁 J loved hearing those stories about this dad.
Our next read will be Farmer Boy. I have a new copy with color illustrations. We are both looking forward to Almanzo Wilder's adventures.
December 17, 2018
The book is very interesting with a lot of tricks Harry Houdini can do. His real name is really Ehrich, but he read a book about a famous magician named Houdin and changed his name. Harry suffered as he tried to find a job as a magician. While doing his career, he fell in love with a girl he met(He spilled acid on her dress and his mother sewed her a new dress). But she was nice. They both married and they looked for a job. They found some jobs, but they weren't good pay. In the end, Harry was very famous for escaping from many things. He died at the age of 52.
March 16, 2019
My son read this book aloud to me for homeschooling. I enjoyed learning more about this famous but slightly less known American figure. It was full of interesting stories from both Houdini's childhood and adult years, though it ended a bit abruptly (forgoing his gruesome death, since it is a children's book). It wasn't my favorite in this series, but still overall enjoyable.
October 25, 2018
A very readable introduction to Harry Houdini, showing his childhood and how his career as a famous escapologist began. It is well written and engrossing even for an adult; though (to an adult reader) the language seems simple and too straightforward, it's perfectly targeted to the audience.
June 7, 2023
Short interesting piece that reminds us that nothing is. Impossible as long as we want it enough to put in the work.
August 28, 2023
It was cool that he could undo hand cufs.
December 29, 2023
Kid-friendly biography of Ehrich Weiss, aka Harry Houdini!
November 17, 2014
Who do you know who became one of the most famous people of all time by beginning his childhood only playing with pots and pans? You dont know? Well, I'm glad to tell you because I just recently read a book about someone like this. It is called Harry Houdini: Young Magician, by Kathryn Kilby Borland. As many probably know he was a magician and escape artist. He is not just any magician, he is probably the most famous one. The book is about him and his journey to greatness. He grows up in a small town in Wisconsin called Appleton. His family growing up was really poor so every penny counted. They grinded for everything. Harry did not start out too well until he took a trip to a 5 cent circus. He watched a magician all day. He was so intrigued by him. Harry asked the man how he did one of his tricks. The magician taught Harry how to do it. He would never forget that trick because that's the trick that got Harry Started. The magician taught him how to take money out of the air. After lots of time practicing magic with pots and pans and one cent props, he was hired by the five cent circus to do tricks escape routes and tight rope. Th at just wasn't enough. His family is going to pay for dinner for everything so he had to go to New York and make money there and send it back for the family. So he ended up finding a job for the five cent circus after a bunch of small jobs. Then he finally I had enough money to send it back home. After that his family came to New York to meet him and his dad to settle there well Harry settled with a beautiful wife named Bess. That's when the big part of his journey kicks off. The format think is good for this book because she has pictures and a table of content for the pictures and the chapters. The font is also big so it easy to read the book. It is also not that long it is only 192 pages with ten pictures and big font.
I thought it was a pretty good book. It was on point on giving you a first on experience of his life and what he went through but it was a little confusing on his age because they would skip ahead in time a lot in the book. She was so keen on showing how hard his childhood was so, she did not talk to you about his career when he was famous. She did do a great job though in explaining his childhood and making you feel for him. You realize based on her writing that his work ethic and experiences as a child made him the man he was when he was famous. She also included a good number of pictures too. The author (Kathryn Kilby Borland) seem to know a lot about Harry's life and all of his twists and turns and suttee facts about him like that he was a track star. She was basically best friends about Harry's childhood but, when it came to magic and his career as a celebrate she was not very educated. The author makes him seem really poor and like he literally had nothing. I know he is poor and all and he started from the bottom and all but like a hundred and twenty pages were of him finding work to send money back to his family. There was not a lot about his career it was first person until his career took off. You can expect to learn that greatness and glory comes from hard work and dedication. I do not think he would be the same man if he was not born into a poor family. At such a young age he had get a job. He had to focus more on helping put food on the table then doing magic or hanging out with friends. You also realize that you can not give up. He traveled to so many counties and states to find a contract that could support him and his wife Bess. It is really inspiring to read this book. I think people who are really passionate about something and want to take it to the next level or need something to keep you going and make you work harder this is the book for you. It would also be interesting for someone interested in magic or someone who had or is having a hard time growing up and needs some hope. Overall I would give this a three and a half , four stars. It was a really good book but I was expecting a little more magic therm his childhood and wife but I would recommend this book to kids in middle school who want a easy short read, people into magic, and inspirational stories, or you're just in need of a good book to read.
I thought it was a pretty good book. It was on point on giving you a first on experience of his life and what he went through but it was a little confusing on his age because they would skip ahead in time a lot in the book. She was so keen on showing how hard his childhood was so, she did not talk to you about his career when he was famous. She did do a great job though in explaining his childhood and making you feel for him. You realize based on her writing that his work ethic and experiences as a child made him the man he was when he was famous. She also included a good number of pictures too. The author (Kathryn Kilby Borland) seem to know a lot about Harry's life and all of his twists and turns and suttee facts about him like that he was a track star. She was basically best friends about Harry's childhood but, when it came to magic and his career as a celebrate she was not very educated. The author makes him seem really poor and like he literally had nothing. I know he is poor and all and he started from the bottom and all but like a hundred and twenty pages were of him finding work to send money back to his family. There was not a lot about his career it was first person until his career took off. You can expect to learn that greatness and glory comes from hard work and dedication. I do not think he would be the same man if he was not born into a poor family. At such a young age he had get a job. He had to focus more on helping put food on the table then doing magic or hanging out with friends. You also realize that you can not give up. He traveled to so many counties and states to find a contract that could support him and his wife Bess. It is really inspiring to read this book. I think people who are really passionate about something and want to take it to the next level or need something to keep you going and make you work harder this is the book for you. It would also be interesting for someone interested in magic or someone who had or is having a hard time growing up and needs some hope. Overall I would give this a three and a half , four stars. It was a really good book but I was expecting a little more magic therm his childhood and wife but I would recommend this book to kids in middle school who want a easy short read, people into magic, and inspirational stories, or you're just in need of a good book to read.
November 4, 2010
Read this with Cole. The book spent a good deal of time on Ehrich Weiss' childhood, which I think Cole found interesting. After all, the series is about famous people's childhoods. It wasn't a complete biography of Houdini, but I don't think it's meant to be.
April 13, 2008
I learned that his real name was Ehric Wiess.
February 21, 2013
I liked this one. It covers a lot of good themes like hard work, practicing, overcoming obstacles, etc.
February 28, 2013
It was interesting to me to find out how much physical strength it takes to do the tricks that Houdini did. Interesting person to learn about.
November 18, 2016
Normally I don't like to read biographies but this was great! It told a good story and had a lot of information. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read.
Read
November 22, 2014Love it
March 25, 2015
I have enjoyed every book I have read in this series including Harry's story.
Read
July 6, 2018impressed
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews