The Magician Next Door
For ages 7+
Callie struggles with a far away house move and grief after losing her mum. A magical mishap brings some much-needed sparkle into her life again in more ways than one.
By Rachel Chivers Khoo, illustrated by Alice McKinley (Walker Books, 2024)
I’ve been waiting for Rachel to whisk my imagination away on another one of her sweet magical adventures. I adored ‘The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice’ (Walker Books, 2023) and so did a heck of a lot of other people. This Belfast born author has partnered with illustrator Alice McKinley (creator of Children’s picture books Nine Lives Newton, The Dodos Did It!) who incidentally wanted to be a Dalmatian dog when she grew up. Even more incidentally, when Rachel Chivers Khoo was nine she promised an invisible tiger that she’d become a writer of her own stories one day. Rachel and Alice seem to be a match made in Children’s literary adventures heaven it would seem!!
Writing thrilling fantasy adventures and achieving the grittiness and edge-of-the-seatiness for ‘slightly younger than middle grade chapter book readers’ is no mean feat. It’s not as much of a flooded fiction market place, this 7+ reading zone, as perhaps the 9+ is. For, when writing for the age group that is the BIGGEST DROP OFF in reading for pleasure, you need to get the formula right. There needs to be LOTS of illustrations, the illustrations need to be effective and in keeping with the story so that more visual readers can still get what the heck is going on in the plot if they’ve been feeling a bit lost lately. That subliminal support and encouragement comes from the engaging visuals (including maps, character scenarios showing emotions, landscapes, keys and homes) and even if they’re in black and white and not full colour, they should not be underestimated. The partnership between illustrator and writer is almost as vital as in picture book territory these days, especially with the rise in appreciation for graphic novels.
If we really want kids to progress joyfully onto meaty pure text tomes for ages 9+ we need to be able to present them with quality options of the reading level prior. As an aside, there have been a number of chapter books recently where I’ve felt quite frustrated to find that the illustrations haven’t matched up with the descriptions in the text!! Annoying.
SO - it is with great pleasure that I write this review for ‘The Magician Next Door’.
Illustrations © Alice McKinley
Here we have an adventure story, a character who goes on an emotional (and physical) journey, there’s magic, there’s new friendships being formed, and oodles of illustrations including maps. I always felt like I wanted to turn the page to see what happened next - and that’s not always the case, even if I really enjoyed a book in the end.
10-year-old Callie and her dad, a geologist, have moved to a cottage in the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland from their home in London. It’s been a huge mental blow to Callie - leaving their flat in the Rose Building, lovely neighbours, her best friend Mia, and most of all perhaps, the memories of when her mum was still alive, as very sadly she passed away a couple of years ago. The strain of moving combined with her immense grief has meant that she has gone into herself and is not allowing herself to actually live and thrive as a young girl should at her age. She’s just not feeling hopeful at all. Moving also equals change and that means a new school and she’ll have to make new friends.
Yuk, homesickness is total yukety-yuk. Pretty much my whole childhood at boarding schools is an ode to homesickness, although there wasn’t an actual home to be sick for after a while… Have you ever felt the extreme feels of homesickness? It’s just bloody awful. Crying on the outside isn’t even a patch on the turmoil in your gut, the sleepless nights or the mental angst. Still, what I have learnt looking back now, and having had my own children, is that it’s all about balance, and finding the fun, nurture and friendship in both worlds, both home and away. That would have made a huge difference in hindsight.
Magic is an incredible antidote to despair for children (and adults). I’m not talking about rabbits hopping out of top hats, or never-ending handkerchiefs from a dinner jacket breast pocket. I’m talking about the kind of Wanderdust magic that powers a flying house owned by an eccentric and kindly Magician called Winifred Potts. She’s NOT a witch; sets the record straight on that one early on. Winifred has been around for centuries, and with her travelling house, unknown to us ordinary humans, although not unknown to other magical creatures like giants, goblins and more. I never new how wild it really was out in the countryside until I read this! She is inextricably linked to her home as an extension of her psyche and with that she (and the home) rely on the Wanderlust - the magic ingredient to endless possibilities and keeping life in peace and harmony. Things don’t always go smoothly though…
One night, because of a massive magical mishap, Callie meets Winifred!!
Coping with change is something young children are more likely than not to have to develop skills and resilience for whether it’s moving home, changing schools, death of a loved one, or parents separating. This story helps with either preparing a child for such an event, giving a child tools to feel empathy towards others, or helps a child to connect with their emotions through Callie’s experiences and feel great hope for themselves at how she is able to come out of the other side.
Sam’s Seven Wonders of the Mourne Mountains (for which the book has a superb map with a key):
The Leprechaun Tunnel
The Smugglers’ Cave
Finn MacCool’s Rock
The Fairy Bridge
The Silent Valley Hiding Place
The Little Follis Gap in the Mourne Wall
The Giants’ Bogland
Praise
“A charming story brimming with magic and wonder.” ― Hannah Gold
Original, exciting and full of warmth, magic and heart, this is a tale that will sweep you away. ― Sinéad O’Hart
“Sparkling with magic and heartfelt wonder, The Magician Next Door kept me smiling from cover to cover. Set amid the mystical wilds of Northern Ireland, Callie's quest to help a magician-in-need is a story to cherish.” ― Jennifer Bell
A thrilling and magical adventure story, with just the right amount of threat for younger children. ― Irish Independent
Excellent writing brings the reader into the world, and the magical sections are fun and exciting. Short, engaging chapters make this a good book for newly independent readers. The text is broken up with lots of decorative elements, as well as many warm and energetic full-page illustrations, helping readers to feel part of the story. ― Inis Magazine, Children's Books Ireland
Ad - reviewed from very lovely signed copy provided by the publisher.
