Edward Eager (1911-1964) wrote books for children. I remember seeing one of them, Half Magic, when I was young and being intrigued by the cover but for some reason never read the book. Recently, browsing the children's section at a bookstore (I happened to be with my children at the time but I have wandered into the children's section looking for good fantasy without any such excuse!) I found all seven of his books on the shelves. I picked Magic By the Lake to try.
Magic By the Lake is a fun book. This is the story of a brother and three sisters who discover magic while on vacation. The children are book lovers and there are many references to their favorite books. As part of their magical adventures, in fact, they become part of several stories. In one such adventure, they encounter cannibals on a desert island and escape while the cannibals nap (this same familiar story is visited in Silverlock). In addition to liking all the right books, Eager likes word play (for example, the children wish for magic by the lake and rather than magic near the lake get a lakeful of magic).
I enjoyed Magic By the Lake and bought three more books: Half Magic (which is actually the first and should be read before Magic By the Lake), Knight's Castle and The Time Garden. All three are in the same vein although the children change. Knight's Castle and The Time Garden involve the children of two of the children in the first two books. In one of the best moments of the stories, the two sets of children actually meet. The meeting is described from both viewpoints, once in Magic By the Lake and again in The Time Garden.
Magic By the Lake remains my favorite so far, although I have to applaud the children in Knight's Castle. When they find themselves inside the story of Ivanhoe, they try to improve the story by attempting to get Wilfred of Ivanhoe to marry Rebecca instead of Rowena (I've always thought he should have married Rebecca).Eager began writing children's stories while looking for stories to read to his son. He was an admirer of Edith Nesbit's stories for children and his book have several references to hers. I have two of Nesbit's books and will read them as soon as I have time.
I have found only one good web page for Eager. Katie's The Unofficial Edward Eager Page has plot summaries and character sketches.