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Cover of The Enchanted Typewriter

The Enchanted Typewriter

John Kendrick Bangs (1899)

SubgenreComic / Humorous Fantasy
Age groupMiddle Grade 8-12
Content ratingG
Pages116 (Quick Read (<250))
SettingSecondary World
CSM age8

Content levels

ViolenceNone
Sexual contentNone
LanguageNone

Trigger warnings

Not yet tagged

Protagonist archetypes

Non-Human Protagonist

Synopsis

It is a strange fact, for which I do not expect ever satisfactorily to account, and which will receive little credence even among those who know that I am not given to romancing-- it is a strange fact, I say, that the substance of the following pages has evolved itself during a period of six months, more or less, between the hours of midnight and four o'clock in the morning, proceeding directly from a type-writing machine standing in the corner of my library, manipulated by unseen hands. The machine is not of recent make. It is, in fact, a relic of the early seventies, which I discovered one morning when, suffering from a slight attack of the grip, I had remained at home and devoted my time to pottering about in the attic, unearthing old books, bringing to the light long-forgotten correspondences, my boyhood collections of "stuff," and other memory-inducing things. Whence the machine came originally I do not recall. My impression is that it belonged to a stenographer once in the employ of my father, who used frequently to come to our house to take down dictations. However this may be, the machine had lain hidden by dust and the flotsam and jetsam of the house for twenty years, when, as I have said, I came upon it unexpectedly. Old man as I am--I shall soon be thirty--the fascination of a machine has lost none of its potency.

Is The Enchanted Typewriter appropriate for my child?

Suitable for most readers 8 and up.

A whimsical 1899 comedy about a magical typewriter operated by unseen hands that produces mysterious stories at night. Completely innocent, with gentle humor and no concerning content.

What to know going in

This book has no graphic violence, no sexual content, and clean language.

Who'll love this

Kids who love mysterious, funny stories will enjoy this tale of a magical typewriter that writes on its own.

Tags

Historical FantasyComic FantasyEpistolarySupernatural Comedy