Trivia / Edward Eager

• Colbert Bump: The works of E. Nesbit, while a perennial standby in the UK, never caught on in America, and by the 1950s, they were out of print in the States. The popularity of Eager's books and his frequent Nesbit name-dropping appear to have led directly to Nesbit's books being reprinted and rediscovered by American children. (Ironically, these days Nesbit's established herself firmly in America, while Eager's books, with the exception of Half-Magic, have become more obscure.)
• First Installment Wins: All of Eager's children's books were extremely popular at the time of their original publication, but Half-Magic became the only one that's perpetually stayed in print since its publication, with the other books fading out of print in the early 1970s. Only in the 1990s was the complete set reissued in time to celebrate Half-Magic's 40th anniversary.
• Harsher in Hindsight: A frequent theme in Eager's stories is that of children dealing with the legacy of a Disappeared Dad. In Half-Magic, we never learn what happened to the children's father, only that he died, while in Knight's Castle, the father is very ill and almost dies. Eager himself died at the early age of 53, when his own son Fritz was only 22.
  • Tangentially related, but equally sad, is that Fritz Eager, who inspired his father to write books for children after Fritz complained he had nothing good to read, survived his father by only 4 years.
• He Also Did: Eager's extensive repertoire of librettos and radio plays have been eclipsed by his more enduring children's books. While the scripts survive for a number of his radio productions, the recordings do not.
• What Could Have Been: At the time of his death, Eager was working on an eighth book in which all the children from his previous books would finally meet and go on an adventure together. Whatever existed of this book has since been lost.
• Write What You Know: Half Magic is set in Toledo, Ohio, where Eager grew up, while The Well-Wishers and Magic or Not are set in New Canaan, Connecticut, where Eager was living at the time. Roger and Ann's father is also noted to be a playwright, as Eager was in real life.
• Written for My Kids: Eager began writing because of his son, Fritz.