The Amazing Harry Kellar

Starred review from June 1, 2012

Gr 5-8-Though many people today have never heard of him, Kellar was once America's favorite magician and a friend and mentor to Harry Houdini. Born to German immigrants as Heinrich Keller, he left home early and began work as a magician's assistant. After many years traveling the world, the hardworking yet congenial Kellar became so famous that he performed for President Teddy Roosevelt's children, and many readers of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (published in 1900 at the height of his popularity) felt that the wizard was modeled on him. Jarrow includes just the right mix of biographical information, anecdotes, and descriptions of the performer's illusions. Frequent sidebars provide context for historical events, people, and magic terminology mentioned in the text. Heavily illustrated with a mixture of archival photos; drawings; and stunning, full-color reproductions of the posters advertising Kellar's shows, this book draws readers in. Ample back matter, including a time line, notes, and a list of sources for further information shows the depth of the author's research. An excellent example of nonfiction that is readable, visually appealing, and well researched.-Jackie Partch, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 15, 2012
A first-rate visual presentation accompanies a fascinating biography of the first dean of the Society of American Magicians, a man Houdini regarded as a mentor. The son of German immigrant parents, Harry Keller (later Kellar) lived in his hometown of Erie, Penn., only until he was 10, when he hopped aboard a train bound for Cleveland, Ohio, in 1859. He apprenticed to a performing magician a couple of years later. Kellar's career in magic and illusion led him to South America, England and Australia before he achieved recognition and success in the United States. Kellar's meticulous attention to detail in the building of his illusions and in the staging of his performances led to his success. Traveling magic shows and established theatrical illusionists were a widespread entertainment in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, incorporating aspects of spiritualism (Kellar demonstrated that he could replicate anything a medium could do) and mechanical wonders like automatons in their performances. Kellar and his team borrowed from other well-known performers, and he worked to polish and improve the illusions to perfection. Few secrets of the illusions are revealed here, but Jarrow makes it clear that it was Kellar's art that made them seem like real magic. Dozens of spectacular Kellar posters along with a dramatic book design nicely support this well-constructed look at a consummate showman. (timeline, bibliography, annotated sources) (Biography. 10-14)

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June 1, 2012
Grades 5-8 Though Harry Houdini gobbles up most of the historical spotlight as the great American magician, at the turn of the twentieth century, Harry Kellar was the most famous magician in the country, if not the world. After first claiming that Kellar was a more talented magician than Houdini, who idolized Kellar and was a better escape artist and self-promoter, Jarrow traces Kellar's life from modest beginnings in small-town Pennsylvania, through apprenticeships with notable magicians, and into his globetrotting career as a performer, where he dazzled audiences in five continents for decades. She describes his meticulous attention to craft, uncovers where he discovered new tricks and found inspiration for his eye-popping illusions, and provides plenty of sidebars that lay out historical context. Though the book is loaded with photographs, the real visual treats here are the dozens of reproduced posters used to advertise Kellar's shows, typically featuring a dapper Kellar performing some feat while crowded by fiery red demons. These, more than anything, bring his showmanship, class, and mystery to life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)