Magic by the Lake

Edward Eager was born in and grew up in Toledo, Ohio. A Harvard graduate, Eager was a lifelong fan of L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and started writing children's books when he couldn’t find stories he wanted to read to his own son. In his books, Eager often acknowledges his debt to E. Nesbit, whom he thought of as the best children's author of all time. 


Magic by the Lake is the third book of the Tales of Magic series (second in the fictional history). The book continues the adventures of Martha, Jane, Mark and Katharine from Half-Magic.  This time, they are on summer vacation and come across an entire magic lake, channelled through a talking, and somewhat grumpy, box turtle. The children are stranded on a desert island, visit Ali-Baba's cave, and end up rescued by some children we’ll meet again in the next book.