Title: Half Magic

Author: Edward Eager

Themes: Autism, Blended Families, Communication, Coping Skills, Developing Perspective, Humor, Friendship, Individuation, Social Skills

Age Recommendation: Elementary through Junior High School

Summary: Half Magic is a fun read! The story follows Jane, Mark and Katharine through their adventures with a magic coin, that grants half-wishes. As the siblings figure out how to use the coin, they also figure out a lot of life lessons related to families, friendship, and themselves. 

Ideas / Interventions: This is a great book to read with kids who are very concrete and literal, which is why I included it in the "autism" category. There is an excellent audio book version of this story that you could use if you are working with kids who have limited attention span or who struggle with the language usage in the book, which is a little old fashioned for some. Half Magic has an Amelia Bedelia feel to it; when the kids wish on their coin, they literally get half of what they are asking for, which can take some hilarious turns. These moments in the book are a great time to pause and discuss the difference between literal and figurative meanings. Try to engage kids who are especially concrete thinkers in activities focused on broadening their ability to express themselves in more nuanced ways. One example is to help them create a matching game for phrases and their meanings; another is to have them illustrate a phrase in two ways - the first if it were taken literally and the second if it were taken figuratively. Learning to understand non-literal meanings is an important social skill as kids get older and communication becomes more complex.