History Creator / EdwardEager

Eager started writing for children later in life, when he found that some of the books he remembered fondly from his own childhood didn't hold up when he tried to interest his own son in reading. While searching for something for his son to read, he discovered the works of Creator/ENesbit and fell in love with them, considering her the greatest writer for children age nine to twelve. It is almost impossible to discuss Eager's books without mentioning Nesbit, as many of his books can almost be considered unofficial companion pieces to Nesbit's, expanding on and playing with ideas Nesbit introduced. Most of his books contain both a direct ShoutOut to Nesbit by name and a reference to one or more of her books, frequently in the form of having the characters themselves cite her as a favorite author. His books are characterized as low fantasy in which ordinary children in contemporary (well, TheRoaringTwenties) discover a magical item that allows them to have a series of (mis)adventures.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In ''Magic or Not?'' and ''The Well-Wishers'', the main characters never find out if the wishing well was really magic or if everything that happened was just coincidence.

* LadyOfAdventure: Jane as an adult.
* MakeAWish: Most of the books revolve around getting around the rules of wish-granting (In ''Half Magic'', the charm only grants half a wish; in ''Magic By The Lake,'' wishes are only granted by touching the lakewater, etc.).

* PimpedOutDress: Queen Elizabeth and the Southern belle in the illustrations for ''The Time Garden''.

* YearInsideHourOutside: When wishing the children home, Merlin specifies that they should have been gone no longer than two minutes in their own time, meaning they come back one minute after they disappeared "but that minute was packed with memories."

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In ''Knight's Castle'', during one quest, Eliza has Ann pair up with Jack and herself pair up with Roger, that way, "each fair lady will have a champion to save her from worse than death, whatever that is." In traditional literature, which the story parodies, "worse than death" was a euphemism for rape.

Edward [=McMakin=] Eager (1911-1964) was a playwright, lyricist, and the author of seven children's fantasy books. He started writing for children later in life, when he found that some of the books he remembered fondly from his own childhood didn't hold up as well when he tried to interest his own son in reading. While searching for something for his son to read, he discovered the works of Creator/ENesbit and fell in love with them, considering her the greatest writer for children age nine to twelve. It is almost impossible to discuss Eager's books without mentioning Nesbit, as many of his books can almost be considered unofficial companion pieces to Nesbit's, expanding on and playing with ideas Nesbit introduced (most of his books contain both a direct ShoutOut to Nesbit by name and a reference to one or more of her books, frequently in the form of having the characters themselves cite her as a favorite author). His books are characterized as low fantasy in which ordinary children in contemporary (well, TheRoaringTwenties) American settings discover a magical item that allows them to have a series of (mis)adventures.

Edward [=McMakin=] Eager was a playwright, lyricist, and the author of seven children's fantasy books. He started writing for children later in life, when he found that some of the books he remembered fondly from his own childhood didn't hold up as well when he tried to interest his own son in reading. While searching for something for his son to read, he discovered the works of Creator/ENesbit and fell in love with them, considering her the greatest writer for children age nine to twelve. It is almost impossible to discuss Eager's books without mentioning Nesbit, as many of his books can almost be considered unofficial companion pieces to Nesbit's, expanding on and playing with ideas Nesbit introduced (most of his books contain both a direct ShoutOut to Nesbit by name and a reference to one or more of her books, frequently in the form of having the characters themselves cite her as a favorite author). His books are characterized as low fantasy in which ordinary children in contemporary (well, TheRoaringTwenties) American settings discover a magical item that allows them to have a series of (mis)adventures.

* ''Half Magic'' (1954) and ''Magic by the Lake'' (1957) star Jane, Mark, Katherine, and Martha.
* ''Knight's Castle'' (1956) and ''The Time Garden'' (1958) star Martha's children Roger and Ann and Katherine's children Eliza and Jack.

* GenerationXerox: Jane and her niece Eliza, as Katherine points out.

* {{Housewife}}: Martha and Katherine as adults.

* MiddleChildSyndrome: Katherine complains that Jane is the eldest, Martha is the baby, and Mark has his own status as the only boy, leaving her stranded in the middle.

* OvernightAgeUp: In ''Magic by the Lake'', Jane and Katherine are turned sixteen for a night.

* SamusIsAGirl: Katherine gets so angry with Sir Lancelot that she wishes herself bigger, stronger, and more skillful than he in order to humiliate him in battle. Unfortunately, she forgets about wishing herself ''not'' to be a nine-year-old little girl anymore, resulting in mayhem when she pulls off her helm.

* SneezeOfDoom: Lampshaded in ''Magic by the Lake'' when the children are hiding from pirates. "Katherine, like so many heroines in other stories, chose this time to sneeze."

Edward [=McMakin=] Eager was a playwright, lyricist, and the author of seven children's fantasy books. He started writing for children later in life, when he found that some of the books he remembered fondly from his own childhood didn't hold up as well when he tried to interest his own son in reading. While searching for something for his son to read, he discovered the works of Creator/ENesbit and fell in love with them, considering her the greatest writer for children age nine to twelve. It is almost impossible to discuss Eager's books without including Nesbit, as many of his books can almost be considered unofficial companion pieces to Nesbit's, expanding on and playing with ideas Nesbit introduced (most of his books contain both a direct ShoutOut to Nesbit by name and a reference to one or more of her books, frequently in the form of having the characters themselves cite her as a favorite author). His books are characterized as low fantasy in which ordinary children in contemporary (well, TheRoaringTwenties) American settings discover a magical item that allows them to have a series of (mis)adventures.

* ExactWords: Eliza and Ann wish to look at the Queen of England. They don't say which, and end up meeting Elizabeth I and Victoria. Another time they wish to see their mothers, and are thrown into a scene from ''Magic by the Lake''.

* YearInsideHourOutside

* FanPreferredCouple: In-universe, the kids in ''Knight's Castle'' ship [[Literature/{{Ivanhoe}} Ivanhoe/Rebecca]] and [[LittleWomen Jo/Laurie]].

** Characters from Literature/{{Ivanhoe}} appear in ''Knight's Castle'', and [[LittleWomen Jo, Meg, and Laurie]] appear in ''The Time Garden''.

* DarkerAndEdgier: While still very much at the idealistic end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismversusCynicism, the books ''Magic or Not?'' and ''The Well-Wishers'' are this relative to the other books. For instance:

* GenerationXerox: Jane and her niece Eliza, as Katharine points out.

* HerCodeNameWasMarySue: In ''Seven-Day Magic'', Barnabus, one of several children who happen to check out a magical library book, spends his spare time working on a fantasy story called "Barnabus the Wanderer."

* {{Housewife}}: Martha and Katharine as adults.

* MakeAWish: Most of the books revolve around getting around the rules of wish-granting (In ''Half-Magic'', the charm only grants half a wish; in ''Magic By The Lake,'' wishes are only granted by touching the lakewater, etc.).

* MiddleChildSyndrome: Katharine complains that Jane is the eldest, Martha is the baby, and Mark has his own status as the only boy, leaving her stranded in the middle.
* NumerologicalMotif: The talisman in ''Half-Magic'' works by halves. The book in ''Seven-Day Magic'' lasts seven days. The castle in ''Knight's Castle'' comes to life every three nights.
* OutnumberedSibling: Mark in ''Half-Magic'' and ''Magic by the Lake'' is the only boy in a family of four children and his frustration with this is occasionally a plot point.
* OvernightAgeUp: In ''Magic by the Lake'', Jane and Katharine are turned sixteen for a night.

** In ''Half-Magic,'' the children are whisked into the time of KingArthur.

* SamusIsAGirl: Katharine gets so angry with Sir Lancelot that she wishes herself bigger, stronger, and more skillful than he in order to humiliate him in battle. Unfortunately, she forgets about wishing herself ''not'' to be a nine-year-old little girl anymore, resulting in mayhem when she pulls off her helm.

* ShoutOut: The children frequently reference their favorite books, especially in ''Seven-Day Magic''. In ''Half-Magic,'' the story begins with the children falling in love with the works of Creator/ENesbit and reference several of her stories.
* SneezeOfDoom: Lampshaded in ''Magic by the Lake'' when the children are hiding from pirates. "Katharine, like so many heroines in other stories, chose this time to sneeze."

* ''Half Magic'' (1954) and ''Magic by the Lake'' (1957) star Jane, Mark, Katharine, and Martha.
* ''Knight's Castle'' (1956) and ''The Time Garden'' (1958) star Martha's children Roger and Ann and Katharine's children Eliza and Jack.

* NumerologicalMotif: The book in ''Seven-Day Magic'' lasts seven days. The castle in ''Knight's Castle'' comes to life every three nights.

* TheRoaringTwenties: ''Half Magic'' and ''Magic by the Lake'' are set in 1924, though the year doesn't have a lot to do with the plot.

* ShoutOut: The children frequently reference their favorite books, especially in ''Seven-Day Magic''.

!! Eager's books provide examples of

* AuthorAppeal: ''Half Magic'' is set in Eager's childhood home UsefulNotes/ToledoOhio, and ''Magic or Not?'' and ''The Well-Wishers'' are sit in New Canaan, Connecticut, where he lived as an adult.

* CompressedHair: ''Half-Magic'' has Katherine whipping off her helmet after defeating one of King Arthur's knights, with her long brown hair revealing that she is female... and also nine years old.

* IWasBeatenByAGirl: In ''Half Magic'', Katharine wishes to beat Sir Lancelot in a joust, and then has to unwish it when Lancelot is mocked by the other knights because he was beaten by a girl. Though in this case it's more that she wished to be five times better than Sir Lancelot at fighting without also wishing to not be, to all appearances, ''an untrained child''.

* NumerologicalMotif: The charm in ''Half-Magic'' requires the user to wish for twice as much as they want, which gets difficult when you must figure out how to be twice as much as half-visible. The book in ''Seven-Day Magic'' lasts seven days. The castle in ''Knight's Castle'' comes to life every three nights.
* TheOneGuy: Mark is the only boy in his household in ''Half Magic''.

* ParentWithNewParamour: In ''Half Magic'', the kids introduce their mother to the new paramour, and are mostly quite happy with the whole situation -- except that they think it'd be strange to call him "father", so he gets declared an honorary uncle.

** Characters from ArthurianLegend appear in ''Half Magic'', characters from Literature/{{Ivanhoe}} appear in ''Knight's Castle'', and [[LittleWomen Jo, Meg, and Laurie]] appear in ''The Time Garden''.

* SpeechImpairedAnimal: Carrie The Cat, who can temporarily half-talk thanks to an ill-advised magical wish in ''Half Magic''.

* SweetPollyOliver: Katharine at the tournament at Camelot in ''Half Magic''.

Edward [=McMakin=] Eager was a playwright, lyricist, and the author of seven children's fantasy books. He started writing for children later in life, when he found that some of the books he remembered fondly from his own childhood didn't hold up as well when he tried to interest his own son in reading. While searching for something for his son to read, he discovered the works of Creator/ENesbit and fell in love with them, considering her the greatest writer for children age nine to twelve. It is almost impossible to discuss Eager's books without including Nesbit, as many of his books can almost be considered unofficial companion pieces to Nesbit's, expanding o and playing with ideas Nesbit introduced (most of his books contain both a direct ShoutOut to Nesbit by name and a reference to one or more of her books, frequently in the form of having the characters themselves cite her as a favorite author). His books are characterized as low fantasy in which ordinary children in contemporary (well, TheRoaringTwenties) American settings discover a magical item that allows them to have a series of (mis)adventures.

* {{Expy}}/GenerationXerox: Jane and her niece Eliza, as Katharine points out.

* AffectionateParody

* AuthorCatchphrase

* InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous
* IWasBeatenByAGirl

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: ''Magic or Not?'' and ''The Well-Wishers''.

* OvernightAgeUp: Jane and Katharine are turned sixteen for a night.
* ParentWithNewParamour: ''Half Magic''.

* SneezeOfDoom
* SpeechImpairedAnimal: Carrie The Cat, who can temporarily half-talk thanks to an ill-advised magical wish.

* SweetPollyOliver: Katharine at the tournament at Camelot.

'''Edward McMakin Eager''' was a playwright, lyricist, and the author of seven children's fantasy books. He started writing for children later in life, when he found that some of the books he remembered fondly from his own childhood didn't hold up as well when he tried to interest his own son in reading. While searching for something for his son to read, he discovered the works of Creator/ENesbit and fell in love with them, considering her the greatest writer for children age nine to twelve. It is almost impossible to discuss Eager's books without including Nesbit, as many of his books can almost be considered unofficial companion pieces to Nesbit's, expanding o and playing with ideas Nesbit introduced (most of his books contain both a direct ShoutOut to Nesbit by name and a reference to one or more of her books, frequently in the form of having the characters themselves cite her as a favorite author). His books are characterized as low fantasy in which ordinary children in contemporary (well, TheRoaringTwenties) American settings discover a magical item that allows them to have a series of (mis)adventures.

Author of seven children's fantasy books. Heavily inspired by Creator/ENesbit. His works:

* MakeAWish

* MiddleChildSyndrome
* NumerologicalMotif: The book in ''Seven-Day Magic'' lasts seven days. The castle in ''Knight's Castle'' comes to life every three nights.

* SpeechImpairedAnimal

* AuthorAppeal: ''Half Magic'' is set in Eager's childhood home UsefulNotes/ToledoOhio, and ''Magic or Not?'' and ''The Well-Wishers'' are sit in New Canaan, Massachusetts, where he lived as an adult.

* DarkerAndEdgier: While still very much at the idealistic end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismversusCynicism, the books ''Magic or Not?'' and ''The Well-Wishers are this relative to the other books. For instance:

* DarkerAndEdgier: While still very much at the idealistic end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismAndCynicism, the books ''Magic or Not?'' and ''The Well-Wishers are this relative to the other books. For instance: