Booklist calls HOUDINI’S LIBRARY by Barb Rosenstock “convincing and inspirational” with “magic all its own” in starred review

Booklist, January 1, 2026

★ Houdini's Library: How Books Created the World's Greatest Magician

By Barb Rosenstock. Illus. by Mar Delmar. Feb. 2026. Gr. 1–3.

“Rosenstock, Caldecott Honoree for The Noisy Paint Box (2014), serves up a riveting picturebook biography of the man who escaped from rope-encircled boxes, watertight containers, and construction cranes swaying over the city, with the text focusing on Houdini’s lifelong love of reading as the key to his success. We first see Houdini at the height of his fame and wealth, inside his New York City brownstone that held 15,000 books, one of which he's reading as he hangs upside down inside a padlocked container. The story zips back 50 years, to when Houdini (born Erik Weisz) and his family emigrated to the U.S. from Hungary. Hardship after hardship follows the family from Wisconsin to New York. The pivotal moment comes when young Weisz picks up a book on magic by Jean Robert-Houdin [CQ] at a secondhand bookstore. He practices Houdin’s tricks (and others) to perfection, honoring Houdin by changing his own name. The illustrations, created with cut paper, acrylic gouache paint, and glue, wonderfully evoke Houdini’s era. Readers may feel they’re looking at eye-popping scenes from an antique stereoscope or peering into a museum cabinet or marveling at an intricate dollhouse. The theme, that books were Houdini’s great escape—and can be anyone’s—is convincing and inspirational. This book has magic all its own.”

—Booklist