The Magic Walking Stick

The Magic Walking Stick is a 1932 novel by the Scottish author John Buchan, his only novel written for children. The first edition was illustrated by John Morton Sale.

The Magic Walking Stick
AuthorJohn Buchan
CountryEngland
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's novel
PublisherHodder & Stoughton[1]
Publication date
1932[1]
Media typePrint
Pages215[1]

Plot

The novel relates the adventures of Bill, a 13-year-old boy, and his magic walking stick that has the power to take him and whoever he is holding by the hand to any desired place, from "the blinding white sands of the Solomon Islands ... [to] the rowans and birches of a wintry Highland Glen”.[2] He visits the elephant's graveyard, plays a prank on some selfish neighbours and helps a beleaguered young prince in a Balkan kingdom.

After hearing an old legend, Bill comes to believe the stick is one of the two staves mentioned in the Book of Zechariah 11:7, but whether it is "Beauty", which favours the pursuit of pleasure, or "Bands", which should be used only for serious purposes, he cannot decide.

Publication

The novel was first published in 1932 by Hodder & Stoughton,[1] in an edition illustrated by John Morton Sale.[3]

Background

The Magic Walking Stick is Buchan's only novel for children.[4] An early short version of the story was contained in a contribution that Buchan had made to Lady Cynthia Asquith's short story collection Sails of Gold (1927).[2][5] Its genesis was a game that Buchan used to play with his own children.[2]

References
  1. "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  2. Lownie, Andrew (2013). John Buchan: The Presbyterian Cavalier. Thistle Publishing. p. 201. ISBN 978-1-909609-99-0.
  3. Buchan, John (1932). "The Magic Walking Stick". Google Books. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  4. Hazlett, Michael and Isabel (2009). "Buchan and the Classics". In Macdonald, Kate (ed.). Reassessing John Buchan: beyond the Third-Nine Steps. London: Pickering & Chatto. p. 21. ISBN 978-1851969982.
  5. Buchan, John (1932). The Magic Walking Stick. London: Hodder & Stoughton. Author's note following dedication. Retrieved 15 January 2017 – via Project Gutenberg Canada.
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