My Friend Mr Leakey
J.B.S. Haldane (author)
Quentin Blake (illustrator)
Penguin Books, UK: 1937; 149pp
ISBN: 0140300163
Genres: adventure, fantasy
Mr Leakey, unlike many of his colleagues who occupy the pages of others in this genre, is a practical magician.His magic is applied to useful things like turning the teeth of a vicious dog to rubber, creating dripless mangoes, ensuring tie-pins and other pieces of apparel can't lose themselves.
It does have its drawbacks, of course: such practical magic means that he can't go to the cricket, lest his preferred team should win too easily.
Mr Leakey's servants are equally enchanting: Abdu'l Makkar (jinn); Oliver the waiter (an octopus); Pompey the in-house BBQ expert (a small dragon who wears asbestos boots so as not to burn the tablecloth); Leopold the saltcellar (a beetle who used to be a man) and Phyllis the dairymaid (a miniature green cow that provides cream).
Lots of fun for readers who like plenty of magic and enjoy episodic narratives.
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