Other editions of book Magic by the Lake

When wishing for magic, it’s hard not to wish for too much. If Jane, Mark, Katharine, and Martha had stopped to think—oh, if they had only stopped to think!—they would have ordered magic by the pound, or by the day, or even by the halves as they had in Half Magic. But no, they asked for magic by the lake—and now they have to deal with a whole lakeful of enchantment! Soon the children find themselves cavorting with mermaids, outwitting pirates, and—with the help of a cranky old turtle—granting a little magical help to the one person who needs it most.

When wishing for magic, it's hard not to wish for too much. If Jane, Mark, Katharine, and Martha had stopped to think—oh, if they had only stopped to think!—they would have ordered magic by the pound, or by the day, or even by the halves as they had in Half Magic. But no, they asked for magic by the lake—and now they have to deal with a whole lakeful of enchantment! Soon the children are awash in magic. They find themselves cavorting with mermaids, outwitting pirates, and—with the help of a cranky old turtle—granting a little magical help to the one person who needs it most.

Edward Eager was born in and grew up in Toledo, Ohio. A Harvard graduate, Eager was a lifelong fan of L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and started writing children's books when he couldn’t find stories he wanted to read to his own son. In his books, Eager often acknowledges his debt to E. Nesbit, whom he thought of as the best children's author of all time. Magic by the Lake is the third book of the Tales of Magic series. The book continues the adventures of Martha, Jane, Mark and Katharine from Half-Magic. This time, they are on summer vacation and come across an entire magic lake, channelled through a talking, and somewhat grumpy, box turtle. The children are stranded on a desert island, visit Ali-Baba's cave, and end up rescued by some children we’ll meet again in the next book.