THE 13th IS MAGIC

**An hilarious gambol with the broomstick league, in a familiar contemporary setting. Ronnie and Gillian, who lived on the 14th floor of an apartment building in New York City, did not realize when they were adopted by a small black cat, who answered to the name of Merlin, that not only would they be shown the 13th floor (which their parents insisted did not exist in their apartment house) but that odd and wonderful things would happen on the thirteenth day of every month. There is Mrs. Wallaby Jones, who conducts them with large leaps through Central Park, and seems to possess a tail; a small mouse with whom they shoot off Roman candles out of which emerge little Romans, togaed and jabbering Latin; the day when horse-loving Ronnie turns into a centaur; an adventure in the days of King Arthur, as ""Childe Roland"" Ronnie rescues his sister from the dark tower aided by Merlin; the hot day, when the children and their parents are confronted with 150 Indians who materialized from Indian head pennies to whip up a storm; and the other ery doings. Controlled fantasy, well-handled literary references and riotous humor.