The Magician's Visit

It is the busy days before Passover, but the marketplace bustle suddenly halts when a fantastical stranger appears--a wondrous magician who, though penniless & dressed in rags, pulls yards & yards of fancy ribbons from his mouth & strikes his shoe to produce rivers of gold coins. In the town lives a couple, poor yet full of faith, whose few pennies go to charity rather than to furnish their own Seder table. For them no matzah or wine, no herbs or holiday feast. But on Passover eve, the mysterious magician appears at their door, summoning candles that dance & chairs that fly--& everything needed for the Seder. Who is this magical stranger? Are his gifts real or merely an illusion? Originally crafted at the turn of the 20th century by I.L. Peretz, this traditional holiday tale is brought to new life in Barbara Diamond Goldin's simple & powerful retelling. With luminous, evocative illustrations by renowned artist Robert Andrew Parker, this is a story to treasure all year long. Illus.