The Magician's House facts for kids

The Magician's House is a series of four exciting fantasy books for children written by William Corlett. These books were so popular that two mini-series were made for British television in 1999. Paul Lynch directed these shows. Famous actors like Jennifer Saunders and Stephen Fry even lent their voices to some of the animal characters!

The books were published in the early 1990s. They are:

• The Steps up the Chimney
• The Door in the Tree
• The Tunnel behind the Waterfall
• The Bridge in the Clouds

Even though the stories happen in the countryside, they also talk about things like new buildings being built and mixing old times with new times. This makes them feel a bit like "urban fantasy" (fantasy set in cities or modern places) instead of just regular fantasy.

The books also show how important nature is. This might remind you of other British children's authors. For example, Alan Garner wrote The Owl Service, and Susan Cooper wrote The Dark Is Rising books. These authors often use old British myths and legends in their stories.

Main Story of the Books

The four books are all about three young brothers and sisters: William, Mary, and Alice Constant. They spend their school holidays at Golden House. This is a big, old house from the 1500s in the British countryside. The exact location isn't given, but it's near Wales. The books follow the children as they uncover the secrets of Golden House. They also learn about the mysterious Magician who used to live there.

The adventures in the books happen over about ten months. Each book takes place during a different school holiday.

• The Steps up The Chimney happens in winter, during the Christmas holiday.
• The Door in the Tree takes place in spring, during the Easter holiday.
• The Tunnel behind the Waterfall is set during the long summer holiday.
• The Bridge in the Clouds happens during the shorter autumn half-term break.

During these holidays, the children's parents are away doing important humanitarian work in other countries. So, the children stay with their uncle Jack and his partner Phoebe.

The stories in each book deal with important topics. These include protecting nature and animal rights. For example, they talk about illegal activities like making badgers fight dogs and hunting foxes. They also discuss how new buildings can affect nature. The children also have to fight against the Magician's evil helper, Matthew Morden. He wants more power and tries to mess up the magic and nature in Golden Valley.

Book 1: The Steps up the Chimney (1990)

The first book introduces most of the main parts of the series. You meet the characters and learn about their personalities. You also discover that characters can travel by joining with animals. And, of course, you learn about Golden House itself. Before the first chapter of each book, there's a map. This map shows important places from that book. In this first book, the map shows Golden House and its Walled Garden with a dovecote (a small house for pigeons) in the middle.

Book 1 starts with William, Mary, and Alice arriving at Golden House for the first time. It's the Christmas Holidays. Jack and Phoebe bought the house and want to turn it into a hotel. There's a lot of work to do, and most of the house isn't ready to live in. At first, all three children don't like Jack's partner, Phoebe, who is pregnant. She seems to have modern ideas and a strong influence on Jack. The children have more traditional views. They find out Jack and Phoebe are vegetarian. Even though the children aren't, they are expected to respect this way of life while at the house. The children are also surprised that Phoebe is pregnant and the baby is due soon, meaning it will be born before marriage.

As the children get to know Jack and Phoebe better, they also learn about Golden House. They explore the house and discover hidden steps behind the main fireplace. These steps lead to a secret room. There, they meet the Magician, Stephen Tyler. He explains that he is from 400 years ago and can travel through time. He is an Elizabethan alchemist. Alchemy was an old practice that tried to turn metals into gold. However, Stephen Tyler isn't trying to get rich. The Magician tells the children he needs their help. He promises to explain more about his work in the valley when the time is right.

The rest of the book focuses on Jack and Phoebe's baby arriving early during a snowstorm. Golden House is cut off from the nearby town. So, the baby has to be born in the house. Jack and William go out in the storm to try and get help. Meanwhile, Mary and Alice stay with Phoebe. They try to protect her and the baby from an evil rat. This rat is trying to stop the birth. While William is looking for help, he discovers he can talk to animals and travel with them. He does this for the first time with a fox named Cinnabar. Alice also experiences this with a stray dog named Spot. Later, Mary also travels with an animal, Jasper the Owl. Together, they stop the rat from causing trouble. A baby girl named Stephanie is born in Golden House by the fireplace.

The Magician explains that another Magician from his own time, named Morden, was controlling the rat. He says that Stephanie and Phoebe are distant relatives of Stephen Tyler. Morden doesn't want the Tyler family to continue living in Golden House. The holiday ends, and the children leave the house. But they arrange for Spot to become their family dog before they go.

Book 2: The Door in the Tree (1991)

The map in Book 2 is similar to the first one, but it shows more of Golden Valley. A wide wood path runs through the center of the map, through Golden House. There's a large tree in the middle of this path. At the top of the map, you can see a standing stone and the beginning of a lake. On the left side, there's a narrower wood path leading to a quarry. On the right, a path goes to a small house with four fields around it.

The children return to Golden House for their Easter Holidays with Jack and Phoebe. Just like the map shows, they discover that the left path has become a dark and dangerous place. Animals in the valley go there to die. The right path leads to a small farm owned by Meg Lewis. She is an old lady whose family used to own Golden House. She lives alone and spends her time at the farm, looking after the local badger set (a badger's home). The children find a secret hideout at the top of an old yew tree. This tree is on a straight line that connects to the secret room at the top of Golden House.

The danger in this book comes from people who illegally make badgers fight dogs. These people travel around England, taking badgers from their homes. The Magician wants the children to focus on his task instead of helping the badgers. They ignore him, and he leaves them. Eventually, they discover that the badger fighters have set up a fighting ring at the end of the dark path in the quarry. The children, with help from their animal friends, Meg, Jack, and the local police, manage to stop what is happening.

It turns out the Magician wanted the children to help the badgers all along. His job is to keep nature in Golden Valley balanced in all time periods. Since the badgers are part of this balance, he is happy they helped them.

Book 3: The Tunnel behind the Waterfall (1991)

The map in Book 3 is the same as Book 2's, but it shows an even wider view. The new things on this map are the rest of Golden Lake and the Golden Valley mountains beyond it.

It's the school Summer holidays, and William, Mary, and Alice are back at Golden House. This book focuses on the area around Golden Lake. Morden is influencing his future relatives, the Crawdens. He wants them to buy the land around Golden Lake and turn it into a huge amusement park, like Disneyland. All the main characters, including Stephen Tyler, are very upset by this news. It would destroy Golden Valley and its natural balance. Luckily, the plans for the park are stopped.

Book 4: The Bridge in the Clouds (1992)

The map in the final book shows an even bigger area, including the entire valley and a large amount of nearby land. Notes on the map show who owns the land or what it's called.

When the children leave Golden Valley at the end of the Summer holidays, Morden's bad influence grows stronger. His powers become more powerful. When the children return to the house for their Autumn school holidays, they find a sad and evil place. The Magician accepts that he is old and cannot protect the valley forever. He explains that he has been teaching the children everything he knows. He hopes they will pass on this knowledge and guide the newest Tyler at Golden House, baby Stephanie.

A big battle between good and evil begins. The animals of the valley choose sides. Some characters are seriously hurt or die, and Stephen Tyler is badly injured. He eventually dies in his own time, which makes the children and the valley's animals very sad. Towards the end of the book, it's hinted that Stephen Tyler's wishes might come true. We get a glimpse of the future, showing Stephanie as a teenager still living at Golden House and exploring its secrets. It's also suggested that Stephanie and one of the Crawden family members might become a couple and have children. This could bring the two fighting families together and start a new time at Golden House. However, the book ends in the children's present time, reminding us that they still have a lot of work to do before Stephen Tyler's wishes are fully achieved.

Television adaptation

The television show changed the relationships between the children a little bit. In the TV version, Mary becomes Jack's daughter and William and Alice's cousin. Her character is also much more stubborn and likes to argue more than in the books. She also seems to have moved from Canada to Jack's home country, just like Phoebe, who also has a Canadian accent in the show.