It’s a curious fact about Harry Potter’s magic that it doesn’t really look all that hard to do. You wiggle the wand, you say the words–“Lumos! Expelliarmus! Accio Car Keys!”–and if you’re not a Muggle ...

Philip Stead had a problem. He was designing the cover for his new—and first ever—middle grade novel and nothing felt right. But the title was, um, long—and there was even some discussion, he said, of ...

Kids cook up an elixir for youthfulness in this whimsically nostalgic picture book. Opening instructions emphasize the simplicity of the assignment: “To make a magic potion,/ you will need these ...

Given her practical nature, it seems ironic that novelist Alice Hoffman sprinkles magical realism through most of her novels. There’s an abundance of it in her new “Magic Lessons,” the prequel to 1995 ...