The 29th book in the Magic Treehouse series is titled "Christmas in Camelot." In this book, siblings Jack and Annie travel back in time to the mythical land of Camelot, where they meet King Arthur and his knights. It is Christmas Eve, and Camelot is under a spell that has caused it to be perpetually winter. Jack and Annie must find four special gifts to help break the spell and save Camelot. Along the way, they meet various characters from Arthurian legend, such as Merlin the magician and Morgan le Fay. The children also learn the importance of giving and helping others during the holiday season.
It was such a high that I decided this was what I should do with my life. Then I did the same bit at a show at a coffee house a month later and it was the exact opposite. I failed miserably to the point where I left the stage in the middle of the performance and put my stuff in a dumpster. That’s how embarrassed I was.
According to Teller, the master magician of Penn and Teller fame, magic is best conceived of as a form of theatre that depicts impossible events as though they were really happening. But attentional misdirection cannot explain the knife-through-arm trick, because here you don t fail to see something that actually does happen, such as the cigarette falling into the magician s lap.
The children also learn the importance of giving and helping others during the holiday season. This book combines history, fantasy, and holiday cheer to create an engaging and educational story. It teaches young readers about the legend of King Arthur and the traditions of Christmas.
Mario the Magician Knows the Real Magic Is in the Faces of the Kids
Mario Marchese, also known as Mario the Magician, performs his family magic show once a month at Space on White, 81 White St. (mariothemagician.com). He also teaches magic at afterschool programs. Here, he tells his story to April Koral.
The first show I ever performed was at a funeral. Yes, it’s true. I was living with my girlfriend’s family and there was a wake at their house for a relative. Her father said to me, “You have to do something because everyone is going to be so sad and it would raise people’s spirits.” I was like, “What? Like, are you serious?” So I just did a bit where I have a coin in a handkerchief and I keep putting it in my pocket and then it reappears in the handkerchief. It’s from a beginner’s magic book I was studying. I couldn’t believe it, the audience went crazy.
It was such a high that I decided this was what I should do with my life. Then I did the same bit at a show at a coffee house a month later and it was the exact opposite. I failed miserably to the point where I left the stage in the middle of the performance and put my stuff in a dumpster. That’s how embarrassed I was.
But I kept practicing and then I met a retired firefighter who did magic tricks for tips at a Chinese restaurant. He said, “You take one half of the room, I’ll take the other.” That was the first time I made money from magic.
Eventually, the girl and I broke up and I came back home with my head down to live with my parents. I didn’t know what to do. I had tried to make a living doing woodwork, making marionettes, music, art and nothing had worked. I was 25, everyone else had grown up, graduated college. But I had a dream one night that I was doing magic for disabled kids and I was glowing and happy. I took that as an omen and I went to college to be a teacher’s aide for disabled kids. On weekends I did kids’ magic shows through an agency and they took half the money.
Then I met Katie, who’s now my wife, and she saw something in me—a little spark. She said, “We could develop something here and maybe we could do this full time.”
So I left college and we quit our jobs and we just made cold calls every day for a month. We were freaking out, but the first month we were able to pay our rent by just doing magic. Katie was a master with marketing and she rocked it all out. That was six years ago, and now we just had our first baby and bought our first house. All because of magic. It’s insane. I can’t believe it.
The first year and a half was like walking through thorn bushes. It was so painful. I made a lot of mistakes. But after I learned all the classics, I started to want to use my own tricks. It’s always risky to try out a new trick. Even now, I’ll spend the whole show thinking about that one trick that I’m trying out for the first time. I don’t want the room to be dead for even one second. I’m hypersensitive to that stuff. Every second has to be leading somewhere.
To me, magic is an art. It’s not this weird thing where you go buy props and do tricks.
I try to look at children’s performances like a science. What makes a kid laugh? Kids in general are always being told what to do and how to act and yes and no and what’s right and what’s wrong. In my routines I often have a problem and I try to solve it but it’s the kids who solve it.
They love seeing an adult mess up and be a fool. My sign says “World’s Greatest Magician,” and then all of a sudden my sign falls off the suitcase and I fix it and I’m trying to be serious and say things like, “We have a great show here,” and then the flags break and the flowers fall to the floor. They can’t stop laughing at seeing a grown man who is supposed to have it together and actually has nothing at all together. It really gets them going.
That’s different from adults. Adults want the opposite. They want to be impressed. If I levitated four feet off the floor, an adult would think, “Wow, that’s amazing. I can’t see scientifically how that’s possible.” But kids couldn’t care less. They want to be entertained. They want to laugh. They want to join in the fun, to come up and help me. When a child comes up in front of a whole group to be my assistant, I can see a little fear in their eyes. They’re always very serious. Then I give them one of my wands and it falls apart in their hands. And I give them another one, and that one breaks. Or I give them a bell that I ring and when they try to ring it, it doesn’t ring. Then they realize that it’s just all a big game of fun.
I always make sure that at the end of the routine it’s the kid who does the magic and that all the applause goes to them. For a moment, this kid thinks he really has coins coming out of his ears and his nose and that he can really make anything appear. I can see it in their eyes. They’re thinking, “This is awesome!” “I can do anything!” And who doesn’t want that?
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Of course, the magician’s gesturing is skilfully orchestrated to direct your attention to the other hand and away from the dropping cigarette. The interesting point, however, is that when you view the trick for the first time, you don’t really have the impression that you are blind at the location where the cigarette falls. Quite to the contrary, you have the impression that you see everything that is going on with utmost clarity. When you watch the trick a second time, however, you see the cigarette fall down as if to mock your sanity, and you wonder how on earth you could have missed it the first time around.
"Christmas in Camelot" is a magical and exciting addition to the popular Magic Treehouse series, offering young readers an opportunity to explore different time periods and cultures in a fun and accessible way..
Reviews for "A Thrilling Time-Travel Journey: The 29th Magic Treehouse Book"
- Jack - 2 stars - While I've been a fan of the Magic Treehouse series for years, I must say that the 29th book left me disappointed. The plot felt rushed and underdeveloped, with Mary Pope Osborne trying to fit in too many ideas into one story. Additionally, the characters lacked depth and I found it hard to connect with them. Overall, this book didn't live up to the standards set by the previous installments in the series.
- Emma - 1 star - I found the 29th book in the Magic Treehouse series to be extremely predictable and boring. It seemed like Mary Pope Osborne was just going through the motions, rehashing old ideas without bringing anything new or exciting to the table. The storyline felt forced and the magical elements lacked the enchantment I've come to expect from this series. I was left feeling unsatisfied and uninterested in continuing with the next book.
- Liam - 2 stars - As an avid reader of the Magic Treehouse series, I was let down by the 29th book. The plot was weak and didn't engage me from the start. The adventures felt repetitive and didn't offer anything fresh or captivating. I found myself skimming through pages, waiting for something interesting to happen, but it never did. I hope that the next book in the series brings back the magic and excitement I fell in love with initially.
- Isabella - 3 stars - While I have enjoyed previous books in the Magic Treehouse series, the 29th book fell short of my expectations. The story felt disjointed and lacked a clear direction. The pacing was off, with certain scenes dragging on while others felt rushed. However, I appreciated the educational elements woven into the plot, as Osborne always does a great job of introducing historical facts to young readers. Overall, the 29th book didn't live up to its predecessors, but it still had some redeeming qualities.