Hocus Pocus Book Review

Author: Paul Kieve

When Paul Kieve isn't helping create the magic of the Harry Potter movies, he's studying and mastering the art of real-world magic. From card tricks to pulling rabbits out of hats and making elephants disappear, there's something amazing about it all. In his Hocus Pocus book Paul shares a few secret magic tricks and gives you a look at the most amazing magicians who ever lived. Complete with an introduction by Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe, here's the scoop on Hocus Pocus.

Alakazam and Shazam!

Opening up this book is like diving back in time as Paul Kieve tells a story about an ordinary magician-in-training who gets a visit from the most famous magicians in history. Each of these larger-than-life magicians were celebrities in their time and a lot of them were weird too. Part how-to book, part fantastic story, there are stories about eight visiting magicians in this book and each has a secret to share.

Fantastic Feats

What makes this book really magical is that it's a really fun read that teaches you how to do magic tricks. The tricks are the kind you can do at home to impress your friends and dupe your parents out of a couple bucks extra allowance! Not only does it show you the tricks one at a time with a cool story for each, there's also a big wrap-up chapter at the back so you can go find all the info anytime you want to practice the moves (magic is actually a lot of work!)

Trickery and Props

As fun as this book is to read, there's no villain, no death-defying adventure, no romance (unless you count The Great Lafayette and his dog) and no grand climax. And, once you've seen how magic tricks are performed, it's disappointing to watch them afterwards.

Bottom Line

This book does a great job of hiding a how-to-do-magic lesson inside a fun story! Each chapter introduces you to a famous character, even the great Harry Houdini, and shows you a bit of how they became so famous. Paul Kieve has conjured up a fun read that will open your mind to a page from history and how to amaze your friends!

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