The Magician's Boy - Susan Cooper

Susan Cooper's The Magician's Boy is a great story to read-aloud to younger readers.

Once upon a time, there was a Boy who worked for a Magician. He desperately wanted to learn magic from his master, but the Magician always refused to teach him. However he does allow the Boy to manage the puppet theatre which he takes along to all his shows. One day, he and the Boy go to a children's party at a very grand house. The Magician warns the boy that everything must be perfect, so he polishes the magican's wands extra hard, shampoos the rabbits, and repaints the trees on the back wall of the model theatre. The Magician's tricks are all cheered and applauded by the children, and then comes the puppet play. The Magician narrates the tale of Saint George and the Dragon, but when the Boy reaches for the Saint George puppet, it's missing. He has forgotten to bring it ! The Magician tells the Boy he must find it and he finds himself suddenly transported to the Land of the Story, on a quest to find Saint George. The Boy's journey is full of adventures featuring lots of very familiar characters. But it's the Boy's last adventure that is the most amazing of all and which changes his life forever.

This is a fun story that's just 100 pages long and is charmingly illustrated by Serenea Riglietti. I recommend it.