Harry Houdini for Kids: His Life and Adventures with 21 Magic Tricks and Illusions

By Laurie Carlson
Chicago Review Press, $16.95, 144 pages

Harry Houdini is famous for being an escape artist, plunging upside down into a glass box filled with water with his ankles shackled. But how many people know he got terribly seasick on the steamships that carried him over the ocean… or that he piloted the first real airplane flight in Australia, traveling there with his plane in pieces so that he could be the first on the only continent where it hadn’t yet been done?
Born “Ehrich Weisz,” Houdini experienced a rise to fame that in many ways resulted from the conditions of the era in which he lived. His creativity, perseverance, and resilience overcame any setbacks he faced because of his poor immigrant status during tumultuous political times.
This fabulous book, Harry Houdini for Kids: His Life and Adventures with 21 Magic Tricks and Illusions by Laurie Carlson, is not merely a biography, though it reveals the man’s personal and professional aspirations and challenges. It is a history book, portraying with fascinating tales and sidebars life in America and Europe at the early part of the twentieth century. It is also a magic book, illustrating and describing how to do tricks that Houdini performed during his stage shows. A fascinating read for children of all ages, Carlson has captured the era and the magic of this historical figure.

Reviewed by Robin Martin