Paths to Enchantment by Malcolm Yaffe

Most children's magicians depend on props to entertain their audiences. Readers of books on the subject of children's magic expect to find detailed accounts of tricks and routines. While Paths to Enchantment has plenty of these, its central purpose is to set out in the form of a blueprint a method to enable readers to improve and devise their own routines. 

The majority of children's entertainers are so obsessed with obtaining and trying out the latest innovation that they seldom search within themselves and discover what new ideas they can apply to props they already possess. One block to such personal invention is the lack of a systematic structure the performer can apply to the task, a foundation on which to develop entertaining ideas from the subconscious. 

Paths to Enchantment is believed to be the first cohesive attempt to analyze those aspects of a successful performance that give pleasure to children.