31st January International Day of the Magicians

31st  January is International Day of the Magicians, on the day Giovanni Bosco died. He was an Italian priest who lived in the 1950s, who dedicated his life to the education of street children in an extraordinary way. He was teaching catholicism using magic! International Day of the Magicians celebrates him, and the sense of wonder magicians give to people. A magician is someone that creates illusions, making the impossible... possible!

Today is a good day to have fun reading about magicians!

or you could read about a real magician eg. Houdini

25th July Carousel Day

It is Carousel Day or National Merry-Go-Round Day every year on July 25th  in the USA.. The holiday was created by the National Carousel Association (N.C.A.) as a way to mark the registration of the first patent for a carousel design in 1871 by William Schneider. However, carousels are not exactly a modern phenomenon, as their existence has been traced to 500 A.D in the Byzantine Empire where ancient drawings depict a fascinating carousel style.

Many children see merry-go-rounds as being too sedate, not enough excitement but during this holidays I went to Luna Park with a six year old who lives an idyllic island life away from all that cities have to offer. He was enjoying going to any park, any shopping centre, but he was keen to go 'on a ride'. He loved sitting on the horse that went up and down talking to his sister on the neighbouring horse, so much so that he wanted to do it again. He went on the ferris wheel, but didn't seem to want to go on anything more boisterous or exhilarating which was probably good because he wasn't tall enough. He was happy just to watch everyone screaming.

When I started teaching books about carousel's and roundabouts were easier to find. Many of the ones that are in libraries now offer more than just a ride...they are rides off into a magical world. Yes more magic in the lead up to Book Week and Reading is Magic.

Look for this textless book, The Midnight Fair  by Gideon Stirer and Mariachiara Di Georgio

Far from the city, but not quite in the countryside, lies a fairground. When night falls, and the fair is empty, something unexpected happens. Wild animals emerge from the trees, a brave raccoon pulls a lever, and the rollercoasters and rides explode back into bright, neon life. Now it’s time for the woodland creatures to have some fun…

Please Bring Balloons  by Lindsay Ward

Ever wondered what it would be like to ride a carousel right off its platform? As Emma discovers, all it takes is a handful of balloons and a very kind polar bear to show you the way. 

Kaya's Heart Song  by Diva Tharan Sanders and Nerina Canzi

Kaya goes off to play and takes a new path through the jungle, where she discovers a run-down carousel. As she sets to work clearing the vines, her mind quietens and soon she can hear the beat of her own heart song. The carousel begins to move and she is able to share her magical experience with lots of people.

Gator  by Randy Cecil

Gator loves everything about being a carousel animal the flashing lights, the calliope music, and most of all, the laughter. But day by day, week by week, fewer and fewer people come to the amusement park, until one day, no one comes at all. And so begins an extraordinary odyssey, as Gator leaves behind the only life he s ever known and sets off through some deep, dark woods to a place with real alligators.

Carousel  by Liz Rosenberg and Jim LaMarche 

Two sisters remember their dead mother's love and what she told them about the carousel horses - that they sleep all winter and wake in the spring. But, one cold day, they see the horses moving, alive and ready to take them on a magical ride. 

Carousel  by Brian Wildsmith

Every year the fair comes to the village where Rosie and Tom live. They wish it would stay forever, but after a few days it always moves on to the next town. The children watch as the carousel is taken down and carried away. One winter Rosie gets sick. To cheer her up, her brother gives her a little toy carousel, just like the one at the fair. As it turns and plays its magic tune the magic begins!

                        Merrylegs by Pam Smy

Merrylegs plods and clomps around the ring every day carrying children on his back. When Merrylegs and his friend Feather visit the fair, he is entranced by the spectacle of the carousel. The lights, the joy, the exaltation of the children’s faces riding the majestic ponies! Why couldn’t Merrylegs be like that? Is there a chance? Maybe a little magical wish that could be summoned one night…

Harry the Carousel Horse by Karin Tetlow and Tessa Gaze

Harry lives on a carousel on the Mall. He is unhappy because no children want to ride him and goes on a dream journey to find out why. On the way he meets different horses and finally finds Will, who helps him change how he feels.

The Carousel by Ursula Dubosarsky and Walter Di Qual

The story of a young girl, and her relationship with the horse she rides on the carousel. When circling, the girl can hear the beating heart of the horse, and knows that he is sad. He is confined to the rhythm of the carousel, going up and down, around and around, and longs to be free.

There are some carousel books without magic

Reading is Magic: 3. Magic: Everyday Items

While finding books about wishes, I realised that often the wish comes via some item...a pebble in Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and a diamond when  Templeton Gets his Wish. Of course, many wishes come via a wand, a spell, a potion or a powder, but there are other more unusual givers of wishes and everyday items that provide the magic. A magic item is any object that has magical powers inherent in it. These may act on their own or be the tools of the person or being whose hands they fall into. Magic items are commonly found in both folklore and modern fantasy.

There are pots,

quilts,

carpets,

cloaks,

There is a magic cloak in The Twelve Dancing Princesses , a fairytale, but they are also in the Japanese folktale, Momotaro, Harry Potter and King Arthur, so stories about invisibility cloaks have been around for hundreds or possibly thousands of years.

pencils,

 crayons,

paintbrushes,

and mirrors,

but, the device could be almost anything ... a key, a ticket, beans (Jack and the Beanstalk) yarn (Extra Yarn), an ice block stick (Rosie's Magic Horse), a pen (Philomena Wonderpen), a biscuit tin (Elsie and the Magic Biscuit Tin), a ring (Strega Nonna's Magic Ring), a carpetbag (Mary Poppins) shoes (The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes), shoelaces (Magic Shoelaces), a hat (The Magic Hat), a lamington (Possum Magic), or even a book (Polly Diamond and the Magic Book). There are sure to be others tooth I have missed.

Young readers need to read stories with magical items that do good while they are young, because as they get older and read longer texts the magical items may not be only for good and they do need some precursors before reading the King Arthur legends, the Greek Myths and fantasies such as Harry Potter, The Hobbit and  Lord of the Rings.

Reading is Magic: 2. Wishes

Who needs a wish giver?

Leading on from genies there is the magic of wishes. They allow us to hope for something even if in reality we know it is not likely to happen. 

Stories about wishes and how they can be used go far back as they appear in many folktales and fairytales that were first told, not written.

In many of the most popular stories about wishing, three wishes are granted. This allows for the chance to make a rash or “greedy” wish which may reflect the less than good side of a character’s nature; the chance to try to put that right by being more modest (which usually ends in something even worse) and a final wish where things go back to the beginning – more or less. 

The process leaves the wish-maker wiser and supposedly happier.  They have had a chance to experience their dream and found it has just as many downsides as the reality they know so well. 

The first story I remember from my childhood that had wishes in it was The Fisherman and the Three Wishes,  a Grimm fairytale. I didn't know about Aladdin until much later. When I started teaching nearly every teacher I knew was serialising The Magic Faraway Tree  or The Adventures of the Wishing-Chair by Enid Blyton to their class...plenty of wish fulfilment there.

When I started postgraduate study in Children's Literature I was introduced to Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig and despite being a product of its time, it is still a favourite.

These two books give you versions of the story about the fisherman and his wife.

This is a folktale from Japan where a poor flower seller drops his leftover flowers into the sea as a gift for the Dragon King. What does he get in return? A little snot-nosed boy--with the power to grant wishes! 

King Midas and the Golden Touch is a Greek myth where a King wishes everything he touches would turn to gold only to discover it is not as good as he thought it would be.

 

These four newer stories have three wishes to be granted!

Then three, where animals do the wishing.

And a short chapter book for those who want something longer.

Newly-qualified fairy, Cobweb is on a mission – she has lost a wish and must get it back! Dickon finds it and there is no limit to the number of times a lost wish may be used.