“Witches and Magic-Makers” by Douglas Hill

As readers of this journal may know from past reviews, my jaunts to the bookstore usually include a glance through the children’s books. Some excellent sources of magical inspiration can be found among titles intended for young readers, and not all of them begin with the words Harry Potter. Witches and Magic-Makers is number 70 in a series of DK Eyewitness Books that includes over 100 volumes on...

“Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism”

Imagine sitting in the darkened attic room of an isolated cottage, conversing with a disembodied intelligence—an intelligence that seems to know about you. On March 31, 1848, just such a communication seemingly began between two young girls and the ghost of a murdered man, a conversation conducted by a series of coded knocks, taps and raps. Within two years Kate Fox and her sister Maggie were...

“Astonish Yourself!” by Roger-Pol Droit

I recently had a magical experience while getting a haircut. Allow me to explain. I was sitting in the chair, absently gazing at my reflection in the mirror in front of me, while my hairstylist clipped away. My eyes idly wandered from the reflection of my face to the reflection of my torso, wrapped in a black apron to prevent pesky hairs from clinging to my clothes, down to my legs, clad in...

“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” by Michael Chabon

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is something of a fantasy novel, but not in the usual sense of the phrase. There are no elves or dragons in this book. And yet, at its heart, the book is about the importance of magic and fantasy for their power to instill hope in the midst of suffering and loss. Josef Kavalier dreams of escape from the harsh reality of Prague under the German...

“Tibet Through the Red Box” by Peter Sís

Prague, September 19, 1994 The Red Box is now yours. Love, Father Thus begins author and illustrator Peter Sís’s magical artbook Tibet Through the Red Box, the tale of a father passing his legacy — his story — to his son. The mysterious Red Box of the title contains artifacts and diaries from a long-ago journey to Tibet, an odyssey filled with excitement and danger and discovery. In...