As a daughter of Norma Kassirer, I cannot express how thrilled I am that Magic Elizabeth will once again be back in print come October 6th, 2026, thanks to The Collective Book Studio’s belief in it and the amazing new, full-color illustrations by Mark Richardson. The book seems to have a life of its own.
It was originally written for my sister and me when we were children (thus the dedication, “For Karen and Sue”). It sat in a drawer for some time until 1966, when The Viking Press published the original hardcover edition. Since then it has been reprinted four times, first by Scholastic Books, then by Knopf and Harper Collins, and now by The Collective Book Studio. Often referred to as a classic, it’s not surprisingly listed in Eden Ross Lipson’s New York Times Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children.
I still remember the day the original contract arrived in the mail. I was home from school, as my pet turtle, Greeno, had died the night before and my parents kindly let me stay home after being up so late. “The contract!” my mother suddenly cried out in delight, her enthusiasm contrasting with my sadness over losing Greeno. But by that night I too was excited that this beloved story would become a real book. Friends came over, and champagne flowed in celebration.
In 2024, The Collective Book Studio published another book by my mother, The Knitting Witch, the beloved manuscript having been rediscovered by me after her passing in 2013 (and fondly remembered by me from even earlier childhood than Magic Elizabeth, when she read it to my sister and me). As I re-read the story, it did not disappoint. In fact, it blew me away just as it had when I was a child. As a veteran children’s book editor, I felt equipped to update it somewhat and shape it into a first chapter book. Also illustrated by Mark Richardson, it rapidly sold out its first printing.
So The Collective had the idea of reissuing Magic Elizabeth with all new, full-color illustrations by Mark. After all, it had been out of print for some time now, had sold nearly a million copies in its Scholastic Books edition, and had garnered close to 200 rave five-star reader-reviews on Amazon and Goodreads (“my favorite children’s book,” “The book that got me reading,” “I named my daughter Elizabeth,” etc.). In addition, reader reviewers repeatedly ask for it to be back in print.
The original illustrations, from the 1966 hardcover edition and subsequent paperback reprints (by Scholastic, Knopf, and HarperCollins), are by Joe Krush, a widely popular, prolific, and prominent children’s book illustrator (often with his wife, Beth Krush) at the time best known for illustrating all the books in the Borrowers series by Mary Norton. To me they were part of the book, as they were all I’d ever known since childhood. So deciding to have new illustrations was not a light decision.
However, I decided to take the leap—and could not be happier. Mark Richardson’s full-color illustrations not only perfectly complement the story, but enhance it as well. As with The Knitting Witch, he seemed to totally connect with my mother’s unique sensibility.
What is behind Magic Elizabeth’s magic, its tremendous staying power? Why do so many readers remember it as their first favorite book, the book that got them (and their children and grandchildren) interested in reading? Why have some readers named their first child Elizabeth, or purchased a house that reminds them of the one in the book?
I’m convinced it has to do with my mother’s experience as she was writing the story, a classic “creative experience,” which she often spoke of and even wrote about, saying, “I was in a state of grace . . . the whole world was one . . . and I was an unquestioning, accepting part of it all . . . and had no need to know it at the time . . . it was only later that I could see how I had been lifted out of myself—how my whole existence had become a hymn—how I had somehow achieved harmony. . . .” She also spoke of how she did not feel that it was even she who was writing the book—how it instead seemed to flow from her fingers onto the page.
She recounted how the idea for the book was triggered by reading hundreds of old family letters and several diaries dating back to the 1700s. “The letters and diaries gave me a complete picture of the ancestors. But what really stayed with me was the atmosphere and mystery of the old house in which they lived. I was fascinated by it. The characters are imaginary. It’s the background and feeling of the old house I write about . . . .”
I am so delighted that Magic Elizabeth is back in print and available to a whole new generation of children. I am certain that its strength comes from my mother’s experience writing it, that people feel the magic she experienced—and that that is what makes it endure, withstand the test of time, and continue to enchant today’s children.
