The setting is the 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression. Our narrator is a young man whose father has set off to find work. The day he left, the mother told the son to set an extra plate at the table, in case someone came by for dinner. They lived out in the middle of nowhere, so such a thing would be unlikely, but he did as he was told. He put out an extra plate every single day for eight months, at every meal. They hoped that wherever their father was, someone had set a place for him, too.
Christmas came, a sad affair with no father. The meal was almost finished when a knock came at the door. The man on the other side asked if they could spare a bite for a man who’d walked the earth. He was invited in and given some of their Christmas dinner.
His name was Mr. Balzini, and he was a wanderer. He had been all over the country, crossing rivers and mountains, valleys and streams. The children asked if he had seen their father, but he couldn’t say as that he had.
Before he left, he pulled out a string of colorful scarves from his sleeve and gave them to the mother. They smelled like lavender and were made of silk. He then pulled out a real sunflower and gave it to the little sister.
He then made a book appear and handed it to our narrator. It was called “A Boy’s Handbook of Magic” and was written by The Great Balzini. He really was a magician!
He left as quickly as he had come, thanking them for sharing their meal. Just moments later, another knock came at the door, and it was their father, returning at long last. They told him the story of their mysterious visitor, but they all proclaimed that the return of their father was the best Christmas magic they had ever seen.
(This book was published in 2003 by Groundwood Books and was illustrated by the author.)
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