Magic in the City is an amazing children novel, filled with fantasy, adventure and fun! It was very interesting to get to read from all their points of view and it was very helpful to get to know the characters more. Heather Dyer has a really great book on her hands.

Sweet enjoyable adventure story that's a nice and easy read. I loved the fun sites and run ins that the three kids have throughout the story across London - a treat to enjoy if you've ever been there!

My mom won this book from Netgalley. Thank you to Netgalley, to the Author and to the publisher.
I am 10 years old, I found the reading level a little bit easy for me. I found the interest level very good for my age.
I really liked this book. I liked that Jake and Simon accidentally went all around London without Hannah. There isn't anything that I didn't like about this book. I would recommend this book to my friends.

An exciting adventure story with lots of magic and mystery. It will appeal to young confident readers who enjoy a bit of fantast

I found the three child protagonists all appealing and believable. The boys, in particular, I thought were done well. I also very much liked the way Dyer handled the major life event that brought the boys and their mother across to resettle in Britain – I had assumed one thing was the problem, but it turned out to be something quite different. And I also liked the way Jake’s mind worked in his attempts to fix things – it was such a childlike way of looking at how to deal with it. Dyer has clearly spent time around children of this age and manages to depict them in crisis without assuming they will behave as adult do – they don’t. She also managed to show the depth of their trauma without telling us, so if the readers don’t know what they are looking at, they’ll likely miss it. Which is just fine as far as I’m concerned. Young readers without this sort of damage in their lives won’t necessarily pick up the extent of their suffering.

Dyer also serves up a fair dollop of humour along with the chaos and excitement. I love the depiction of the Queen – whether or not it’s correct, I thought it was a delight. Overall, this is charming, enjoyable book that delivers an engrossing magical adventure with some hefty family issues wrapped up in the story that will speak to the many fatherless children out there. Recommended for independent readers between eight and eleven years old, depending on maturity.

While I obtained the arc of Magic in the City from the publisher via NetGalley, this has in no way influenced my unbiased review.
8/10

A chance encounter with a retiring magician sets three cousins, Jake, Hannah, and Simon, off on an incredulous adventure. A flying carpet transports them around the city where they get lost in Buckingham Palace, a magic camera takes them back in time to meet Sir Raleigh, and they get into trouble with a watch that stops time. Magic in the City by Heather Dyer is a cute story and is very fast-paced. It will appeal to younger readers as they embark on the adventures that Jake, Hannah, and Simon have. The book wraps up with a happy ending due to a chance encounter with the Queen of England. Who would have imagined that a forced trip to London could have ended this way?

In my youth I loved Edward Eager and E. Nesbit. Eager was a little easier to read then Nesbit but the stories of children having adventures with magical objects and brings was always fun to read about.

In this book, there is that same spirit of adventure, of kids that are also using the magic to solve adult size problems, themselves. In this case the problem is that they have had to give up their home in Canada because they don't have the money to pay the mortgage. As much as they want to explore London, they really want to be home.

Magical objects are always more than they seem and never do exactly what you think they are going to do, and this is so in this case. And unlike earlier children's books where the parents are oblivious to the kids, the parents are very aware that something is going on.

This is a fast read with twists and turns, time travel, time stoppage and the queen of England.

Look forward to a possible sequel.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review

Not at all what I was expecting. I guess i expected more "discovery of a magical subset of our world" than "receive magical objects and wreak havoc". Part of the problem is that these adventures are so haphazard. And the characters have no depth, very little personality. They're just kids who think that a magic carpet and time machine will allow them to steal the crown jewels.

Jake and Simon are not happy about having to leave their home in Canada and move to England. Their cousin wasn't much fun when she came to visit and they'll be leaving all their friends behind. But with their dad in prison and their mom unable to continue house payments they have no choice. They're traveling resentfully and they're being crabby until they come out of train station and see a magician. He's selling off the tools of his trade. The boys have no money but they end up with three items anyway. They have no idea what they have...

Kids Can Press and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published April 4th.

There's a lot of fantasy in this story, that's what makes it fun to read! Jake wants to steal something valuable so he can buy their house back. Having a magic carpet to ride might help that but Simon wants to meet the queen. He does get a chance to meet the queen because he can stop time. When he finds the queen, he takes her hand, stops time and then has a nice visit. The queen keeps the clock so she can have some quiet time to herself when she wants it.

Jake and Hannah come after Simon and nearly get caught. They take a photo of a picture and find themselves on a boat! Before they get away from the past and back to the present, they end up with a cabin boy coming with them. He takes the camera so he can go where he wants to go.

The magic carpet got wet and is useless now but Hannah hopes it will recover when it dries.

The ending is amazing. It's worth reading the whole story just to get the ending. It was a fun read with a great ending.

Overall: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story Setting: 5/5 (Thumbs up for the carpet and the time-stopping clock!)
Characters: 5/5
Appealing: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Creativity: 4/5

This is a very, very cute book. As the title shows, "Magic in the City", we have three kids going on an adventure in LONDON after receiving several magical gifts from a mysterious magician. The ending was of course predictable ---it' is a book for younger teens--- but I liked the story setting really much and wanted a second book right after reading the last page. From this point, I would like to suggest the publisher and the author to consider making "Magic in the City" a series name instead of only the first book, if there are any plan to write and produce a book 2 or 3 afterwards. The story setting can be expanded, and I'm looking forward for more magical journeys with Jake, Simon and Hannah.

Super cute children's book about three children who own a magic carpet, camera, and stop watch. The character's were pretty detailed; Jake (a know-it-all preteen), Simon (easy going), and Hannah (the responsible one). The story details how they use each of the magical items and how they learn that being with family is really the best magic there is.

This was a great read aloud - not very long- it would probably only take a few nights to finish at bedtime. The kids in the story are given three gifts from a retired magician at a rest stop. He claims they have magical properties: a carpet, a camera, and a stopwatch. Of course, they need to figure out how to use them. Who hasn't dreamed of a flying carpet? Especially of flying it over London. The story switches between the three characters and it is fun to watch ordinary children discover magic. There are some genuinely funny plot twists, and overall I really liked it. I'd say this would be a hit with kids under the age of 12.

Loved this! Absolutely magical. A little glimpse of magic and the world!

A charming modern day 'Faraway Tree' meets 'The BFG' as Jake and Simon are forced to move to London to live with their annoying cousin, Hannah.

A chance encounter with a magician who is retiring, sees the boys receive a magic carpet, stopwatch and camera. Jake sees them as a way to get his family home, but as with all magic, nothing happens as you'd expect, and the children learn valuable lessons on their adventure.