My 4th grade teacher read this out loud to my class. She would read a chapter at a time and I couldn't wait to get to school the next day to hear what would happen next. This is not a well known book, but such a fun read aloud with kids from 4th-6th grade. I still love it.

How could I resist when my brother-in-law urged me to read this book, naming it as one of his favorite childhood reads?It did not disappoint me.Harry Houdini Marco is astounded to get to know one of his mother's boarders, Mr. Mazzeeck, who not only turns out to be a traveling salesman from another galaxy but also a wizard. Mr. Mazzeeck has to leave but, before he goes, he gifts Harry with a bottle of magical potion, and, when the boy tries it out, he grows wings and can fly.So much fun.

I liked it! Harry was charming and realistic, even if the metaphor was a bit heavy handed.

Snyder delivers another magical summer adventure in this third novel - following upon Season of Ponies and The Velvet Room - which follows the story of young Harry Houdini Marco, who is given the gift of magical wings. Calling himself "Humpty Harry" because of his clumsiness, Harry lives with his mother in the boarding house she runs in San Francisco. Facing a lonely summer because all the neighborhood children have moved away, and longing for a father, Harry finds himself the recipient

Of the thousands of books that I've read in my life time, this is the oldest one in my personal library. It has the honor of being the OLDEST BOOK that I recall reading. I read it when I was in the 4th grade, circa 1966. It was amazing (for a nine year old boy). I've kept it all these years because it was my favorite book of my early childhood.

My name is Harry Houdini Marco, and when my dad was alive, he always hoped I'd become a great magician. I've been told that someday I'll have a special kind of magic. That's pretty funny considering how clumsy and nonathletic I am, but I wish there was something magical I could do to help my mom find a new husband. I was ready for another boring summer when Mr. Mazeeck took a room at our boarding house. He said he was a traveling salesman, and he never let his suitcase out of his sight. On the d...

I think my brother gave me this book. I really need to go back and read it again, but I remember dreaming about this book for a long time after I was finished. The setting and feel of the story are so real. Above all the fantasy and sci-fi I read in school, this book sits on top.

This is one of my favorite books. I found it in a used bookstore and bought because it had a boy with wings on the cover. It was a trifle old when I got it as a girl (back when dinosaurs and we dodged mammoths on the way to school), but only real sign was the prevalence of traveling salesmen. But I lived in a rural area, maybe they were more common in urban areas.Harry Houdini Marco has an exciting name; one his father hoped he would live up to. Unfortunately, Harry's father is dead and Harry hi...

I read this book when I was a kid and recently revisited it. As it turns out, while I do not have a photographic/eidetic memory or anything like that, I DO have a very good memory for the names of books I read when I was a kid (well, most of them) and so occasionally I like to go back and take a look at them ("M Is For Mischief" and "The Enormous Egg" will no doubt eventually get into my reading pile).This is a charming book, easy to read and follow but with a surprisingly subtle hand at making

I thought it was an interesting read. The book was written in the 60's, and so it is fascinating to read about a boy growing up at that time period. Not that it had any political feel. Just a world without TV, phones, internet, and video games permeating the environment. I think my 9 year old son will enjoy this book.

Just the mention of the title of this book a few weeks ago made me so excited to re-read it. I had really forgotten all about it and only remembered it vaguely from when I was little and my mom read it to me, but I remembered how reading the book felt. And as it turned out, it still feels wonderful to read it. It's the sort of book that awakens my imagination and makes me smile with the pure delightfulness of the plot. And I can also appreciate now (as I probably didn't as a child) the wonderful...

Loved this when I was a kid. It is probably lingering out there in the children's section of the EPFL, but I don't want to read it again. I ruined the Boxcar Children for myself, and I want my memories of this to remain unsullied. This book is a twist on the old "magic potion" story, where a clutzy kid with problems finds a potion that, used properly, gives him wings. He's kind of like The Greatest American Hero in that he doesn't know how to use his powers, or the wings, and winds up black and

I read this delightful book when I was in the Fourth Grade. Pulled it off the library shelf at Nightengale Elementary School, Massena, NY because something about the title just drew me in. It was not a class assignment and so I never wrote a book report on it (at least, I don't remember ever doing so). And, if memory also serves me right, this was the first fictional book I ever read, completely on my own, that was not part of some classroom project. Looking back on this minimal achievement, I c...

This is very much a book for children. It is about a boy who gets magical wings for a summer and how he uses them. It is absolutely adorable and fun read. If you have kids read it to them or have them read it.

This book was written years ago by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, who later turned out to be a wife of a professor at my university. But before this, she was/is an amazing author I started reading when I was 8 years old. This is about a boy protagonist, but this did NOT stop me loving this book. I have 'loaned' this one out to many little kids, literally having to BEG for it back. I met Zilpha Keatley Snyder, while in graduate school at Sonoma State University having lunch. It was a top honor for me to

I found this book by accident when I was a child. It wasn't one of the mysteries I was expecting. Didn't follow any of the formulas that had hooked me into reading. But it was the first book that I remember liking for more than entertainment. Recently I reread, reading to my young son. It was even better than in memory. This book would make a brilliant film. It should happen, and that film should be directed by one of the greats:Brad Bird (Iron Giant), Peter Chelsom (The Mighty), Gary Winick (Ch...

I read and adored Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s Black and Blue Magic as a child nearly 50 years ago, just as I read and adored her The Egypt Game and her The Velvet Room. Rereading at nearly age 60, the tale of clumsy but resourceful Harry Houdini Marco hasn’t aged a bit. Still — dare I say it? — magical all these decades later.

There's a reason Snyder, and this book, are so popular with both children and adults (including educators). Well, multiple reasons. The kids are ordinary kids, like you and your classmates. The adventures are believable and almost prosaic... they could happen to you. The themes are neither didactic nor hidden in allegory. The writing seems effortless and frank, but is often lovely. There's humor, affection, friendship... and there're some bits that aren't so nice. And the secondary characters ar...

I am referring to the 1966 version of "Black and Blue Magic." I remember being brave enough to sneak up to the hayloft over the art barn at sleep away camp to read "Black and Blue Magic!" A magic potion enables the main character to sprout wings and fly for about 6 hours before the wings disappear and the potion had to be reapplied after the boy's Mom is asleep each night to regain the giant wings. I had lots of dreams about flying afterward! However, there was a lot more to this book than mere