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TUCKAHOE, N.Y. – A Crestwood magician treated children to various tricks and allusions on Friday, as the Tuckahoe Public Library concluded its children’s summer reading game for the year.
Joe Fields, a full-time magician with 30 years of experience, had a crowd of more than 50 kids and parents laughing and squealing with delight as he performed a variety of tricks at the library.
“The children were great. They were energetic, involved, and laughed at all the right moments,” he said. “In a big crowd like this, it’s important to take the first few minutes to get everyone comfortable.”
During the course of the summer reading program, 150 participants read more than 1,200 books. After being treated to Fields’ show, youth services librarian Ellen Tannenbaum gave the children books and treats to reward them for completing the game.
“This is the last of our three summer reading games; we’ve already wrapped our adult and teen programs,” she said. “This is beneficial because we are able to work with their school reading lists. Everyone who participated gets a certificate and a prize.”
During his show, Fields had the crowd in awe with his trick rings and scarves, doing a variety of illusions to the pleasure of the children. What stole the show was when he drew a face on a whiteboard, which subsequently started talking to the crowd.
For his grand finale, Fields turned a balloon into Bugsy – his plump brown rabbit.
“The children reacted exactly the way I had hoped. They really got into the talking picture – some of them were even trying to talk to it during the trick,” he said. “It was great to see how happy everyone was – that’s what makes this rewarding.”
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