At the beginning of The Magic That’s Ours you’ll find a quote from Albert Einstein: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
Author Gary Hirson’s aim in writing this book is to help children discover the great gift and power of their imagination and to show them how to have fun with it.
Hirson says he was inspired to write the book after seeing a friend’s daughter so absorbed by cartoons on television that she was unaware of what was going on around her. He came up with the idea of an interactive book put together in such a way that it allows busy parents to read a short section to their children, explain one of the “fun time’ activities to them and then leave them to entertain themselves in a creative way rather than “zoned out” in front of a TV set.
The story follows siblings Joel and Jina in their discovery of the “wispy” character IMAGI-NASHUN – or “Magic” for short – who tells them about the magic they have. There are nine “Fun Time” activities that are linked to the narrative, which encourage children to participate in the story by using their imaginations.
For example, children are asked to imagine what the character “Magic” looks like and then make a puppet using cotton wool, material, paper, buttons, ribbons and anything else they can find.
Other activities involve the children closing their eyes, remembering a time when they were very excited and then explaining to others what it felt like. Most of the activities can be done as an individual or as a group, making the book ideal for use in the classroom or playgroup.
Hirson places great emphasis on having fun. At the end of each activity you’ll find the words “Have Loads of Fun”.
The Magic that’s Ours is full of vivid, lively illustrations and was entered into the Katrine Harris awards for children’s books’ illustrations.
The Magic That’s Ours retails in stores for R125. If it is purchased from the website www. themagicthatsours.com then it costs R120 including registered postage anywhere in South Africa