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Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini
- By Sid Fleischman
- Genre: Biography
Common Sense Media says
Engrossing Houdini bio by kids' author/magician.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that there is little to be concerned with in this biography, other than the possibility that kids may try to reproduce Houdini's feats.
What's the story?
Children's author, magician, and friend of Bess Houdini (the magician's wife) Sid Fleischman sorts out the myths from the reality in the life of Harry Houdini.
Born Erich Weiss, son of a rabbi in Budapest, Hungary, in 1874, he emigrated to American as a small boy, and ended up in Appleton, Wisconsin, which he later claimed as his birthplace. Impoverished, Erich ran away from home at age 12, hoping to make enough money to send some back to his family.
But working at shining shoes, selling papers, and carrying messages earned him barely enough to scrape by. In his teens he began to study magic, and named himself after a famous French illusionist. Eventually he became the most famous magician, escape artist, and debunker of spiritualists of all time. Includes bibliography and index.
Is it any good?
Author Sid Fleischman has been a professional magician, and he knew the subject's wife. So he has both a personal and professional connection to his material, and it shows on nearly every page. In this lively, entertaining biography, Fleischman does more than just retell the major events of Houdini's life, and even more than separate myth from fact (a tricky job in this case). He carefully walks readers through the evidence and his own reasoning process, making good use of his insider knowledge along the way.
He includes numerous photographs, some from his personal collection published here for the first time. And he uses his well-known humor and some novelistic writing techniques to make this bio what all of them ought to be: an engrossing story. Put this one on that special shelf -- so far it's way too small -- of biographies that kids will actually get excited about.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about magic and Houdini's legacy. Why is he still so famous? Why was he so determined to debunk spiritualists? Why are these kinds of tricks so appealing? Kids may want to see modern magicians such as David Copperfield, and they may want to learn some tricks.
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AGE
great for all ages. as a High schooler I enjoyed this book, as well as a younger child would
I loved this book, and you needn't worry about your kids attempting any of his feats, unless your kid is an absolute moron and decides to go eat some needles. The book tells you no more about any of the imitable tricks than their names. Only will you get any type of description from something like the Chinese torture cell. Just simply tell your children he was an expert and even many magicians now wont even attempt some of his tricks. And that is only if your kid is one of those "evil geniuses" who is smart enough to give it a running jump and is willing to do it.
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| Author: | Sid Fleischman |
| Book type: | Non-Fiction |
| Genre: | Biography |
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Children's Books |
| Publication date: | August 1, 2006 |
| Number of pages: | 210 |
| Hardcover price: | $18.99 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 9 - 9 |
| Read aloud: | 8 |
| Read alone: | 9 |
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