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5.0 out of 5 stars
If you love Harry Potter, try this!, Feb 17 2001
Years before I even heard of Harry Potter, my mother picked up the 1910 Macmillan hardcover version of this book at a garage sale for a mere fifty cents. (Imagine, a turn-of-the-century copy of a great book for fifty cents!) At first I was put off by its volume (333 pages with illustrations) but I managed to lap up every last word of it...about seven times, I think.Philip Haldane, our hero, and his half-sister Helen are orphans. Helen has been Philip's sister, teacher and playmate for what seemed like all his life, and there wasn't a shadow of a doubt in his mind that this would go on for ever; he wanted it to. But the unimaginable happens -- Helen marries and goes honeymooning around Europe, leaving Philip at his new residence, friendless and bitter. But soon his new, seemingly dreary life is changed by his embarking on an exciting adventure, so splendid and picturesque that he never would have dreamed that he had built it with his own hands. You see, Philip had always played building games, and he built not with plain old building blocks but with...well, everything -- everything from ink-wells to bronze Egyptian figurines! And it was while he was in the depths of his misery and pining harder than ever to see his sister again that he, the Creator, discovered it -- his Magic City -- and its delightful secrets. Now, to look at it from a Harry Potter fan's viewpoint. I shouldn't be giving any clues, you really should have read this book at least once before comparing it with HP, but I'll just say...Philip is of course the Harry Potter of this book, but he is also the Ron Weasley because of his initial malice towards his new stepsister, Lucy -- the Hermoine Granger of this book. The Grey Nurse is the Snape/Malfoy/Voldermort figure of this book. The Great Sloth is rather like Scabbers, and Polly is somewhat Hedwig-like. And Mr. Noah is almost EXACTLY like Professor Dumbledore; if you look at the part of the book when he goes to visit the prison, you'll know what I mean :) If that still doesn't grab the average Potter fan's attention, how about this: J.K. Rowling favours E. Nesbit as one of her must-reads! Enjoy...
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