Next month, Scholastic will publish Hocus Pocus: A Tale of Magnificent Magicians, written by Paul Kieve and illustrated by Peter Bailey. The book is a “fictional tale inspired by the lives of the world’s greatest magicians that also includes instructions on how to do more than 35 magic tricks.”
The photo on the cover also emphatically notes that the book has an introduction by Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter in the movies based on J.K. Rowling’s books. In Radcliffe’s brief introduction, he tells readers that Kieve “was the magic consultant on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” and that, while they were on the set, Kieve taught Radcliffe some magic tricks with which he was able to amaze and entertain friends and “break the ice with new actors joining the Harry Potter films… Emma Thompson did actually scream” when Radcliffe performed a trick for her.
Kieve began his professional career in magic at the age of 16. In addition to his work on the Harry Potter films, he “created innovative illusionary effects for theatrical productions such as The Lord of the Rings in Toronto and The Woman in White on Broadway. Kieve also created an online wizardry course to promote the Sci Fi channel miniseries Legend of Earthsea,” which is still available at this link. He is the winner of the 2006 British Magical Society Award for outstanding contribution to Magic and is a Gold Star member of The Inner Magic Circle.
The book’s web site is hocuspocusbook.com.