Joan HowardRecensioni

About the birth of few men of modern times has there been so much mystery as has shrouded that of John James Audubon. There have been all sorts of stories about it, including the well-known one that he was the lost Dauphin of France.

Whatever it may have been, he spent his boyhood in France as the adopted son of a Captain Audubon whose name he was given. Young Audubon hated school and spent all his time studying and drawing birds. Finally the Captain realized that the boy was never going to get anywhere going to school and he sent him to Paris to take lessons in drawing. Even there Audubon learned nothing and finally when he was eighteen he came to America to try to make a living. For more than twenty years he worked at all sorts of odd projects, all the while learning about and making drawings of the birds of America. When he went to London in 1826 to find the best engravers for his drawings, his years of work were finally vindicated for people everywhere recognized his genius.

Joan Howard has written a vivid biography of this fascinating artist that will keep its young readers enthralled from beginning to end.

From the dust jacket

Biografía del famoso autor escocés, escrita para todos los públicos y abundantemente ilustrada con grabados, esquemas y otros dibujos que embellecen la edición.

jB

This has a feel of Mary Poppins - two urban children have a different magical adventure in each chapter, aided by a magical friend - but instead of an English nanny, these New York children have a black cat named Merlin. Published in 1950, the stories have a lot of charm, despite a good dose of sexism and a regrettable chapter in which some "red indians" come to life.

A much-desired book from my youth: The 13th is Magic! (Their exclamation point, not mine.) I borrowed this book from the mini-public library on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn about a thousand times back in the early 70s. I was too honorable to make believe I lost it and keep it. Now I can't find it anywhere. Seriously, would somebody who owns it please just scan this book into a pdf and all our lives? Why is this book out of print? Why hasn't someone made a movie of it? And did you know there was a follow-up called "The Summer is Magic"?

Ronald and Gillian Saunders had a very happy life on Manhattan's Upper West Side, where life was "usually pleasant, and sometimes pleasantly unusual." The "unusual" was created by their magical cat Merlin, who introduced them to the astonishing (and hidden) thirteenth floor of their building, and who made sure that the thirteenth of every month included a magical adventure.

Ronnie and Jill had many astonishing experiences, from meeting Oscar, the mouse-proprietor of the "A Complete Line of Magic" stall, to their friendship with Mrs. Wallaby-Jones, a kangaroo-escapee from the Central Park Zoo. An unexpected blizzard that provides an opportunity for sledding in Central Park, a fortuitous fog that transforms the 125th Street Ferry into a trip through time, the purchase of a Genuine Swiss Superior Cuckoo Clock that allows Ronnie to slip inside and, with the help of miniature inventor Homer P. Maxurbanipul, gain his "mechanical aptitude" - anything could happen on the 13th!

The 13th is Magic was an enjoyable piece of fluff - the sort of episodic-magical-adventure-fantasy that was quite popular, before epic quest-fantasy came to dominate the genre. I loved Merlin, enjoyed many of the adventures, and agreed with Jacob (the elevator-man) that "Nobody ever owns a cat." I could have done without the unfortunate incident involving the 157 Indians who all looked alike and only knew how to say "Howgh," but other than that, this was a pleasant enough read.

Very boring book. Not the type of book a teacher would want to read to a class. More of a middle school level textbook rather than a book to read out loud. Did however have some very interesting facts that may interest children who like artwork and the history of America.

Lesson 1 - Geography of the United States