Magic in the Mist <small><small>by Margaret Kimmel</small></small>

Arrgh. What do you mean it's out of print!?!

Honestly-- Don and I started this site because we know there are many, many excellent children's books out there that are falling by the wayside because no one is their advocate. What's particularly frustrating is that many of these books reside in libraries, but with so many books crowding the shelves, how is anyone to find them.

"MAGIC IN THE MIST" is one of these books. It has great drawings and a wonderful story, and yet it has fallen out of the public's attention. The story is about a boy named Thomas and his frog-friend Jeremy. They live together in western Wales and Thomas is studying magic, although none too successfully. Then one day magic comes into his life when a small dragon appears. The dragon does not stay long, but the magic lingers -- in their lives, and ours.

At the moment this little book is available at discerning libraries, and through the secondary market at Amazon. If you search it out, you will find a rare little gem.

Rating ::: A+

Wonderful Read-aloud. Excellent artwork. [Trina Schart Hyman did the intricate drawings for this book and they are marvelous.] The book uses vibrant words to tell a tale that is not predictable, nor babyish.

Find below is the first paragraph of the book so you can judge for yourself.

Once, when the mountains sang and people
listened, when Cader Idris was covered by snow
and Plynlimon was hidden by fog, there lived
in west Wales, a boy named Thomas. His home
was a rude shelter at the edge of a bog, not far
from the sea. Thomas was studying to be a
wizard. Although he spent long hours with
books, practicing spells and chanting incanta-
tions, his magic was not very strong. In fact, it
was not even strong enough to keep his house
warm. Each morning as the cold wet day began,
Thomas would try to light the house fire. In
spite of all his spells, the rain kept on dripping
into the small hut, the wind blew through
chinks in the walls, and Thomas could do no
more than strike a weak spark.

No AR (Accelerated Reading) number could be found for this book. It is definitely at a more difficult level.

Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs

Magic in the Mist
by Margaret Kimmel