The Magician's Apprentice

Kate Banks

Aga 2012 · Kuthengiswe ngu-Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

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From award winning author Kate Banks, and with pictures from Caldecott Honor illustrator Peter Sis, a magical parable for readers who ask big questions

Baz has always dreamed about following his two older brothers out of his dusty little town, so when a stranger comes to his family's home and asks him to be a weaver's apprentice, Baz is eager to start his journey. But when he reaches the village of Kallah and starts his apprenticeship, Baz learns that his master is very cruel. And when the master trades Baz to a magician for a sword, Baz expects no better from his new owner.

But as Baz travels with this kind-hearted and wise magician, their journey takes him across the desert, up a mountain, and into the depths of life's meaning. He learns to re-examine his beliefs about people, the world, and himself, discovering that the whole world is connected and no person can ever be owned.

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Kate Banks (1960 – 2024) wrote many books for children, among them Max’s Words, And If the Moon Could Talk, winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and The Night Worker, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award. She grew up in Maine, where she and her two sisters and brother spent a lot of time outdoors, and where Banks developed an early love of reading. Banks attended Wellesley College and received her master's in history at Columbia University. She lived in Rome for eight years and lived in the South of France with her husband and two sons, Peter Anton and Maximilian.

Peter Sis is the three-time Caldecott-Honor writer/illustrator of many books, including Tibet Through the Red Box. He lives in Westchester County, New York.