Melric

There are some books that vicars (and similar!) really should read. No, not the theological ones. This is one of them; it’s by David McKee, who also wrote the Elmer books. It’s a good story, with good illustrations, and with a message that many of us need to think about…

Melric: The magician who lost his magic by David McKee (2012)

Melric was a magician who helped everybody “all by magic. Melric was always busy. No one else was busy at all.”

Unfortunately, Melric wakes up one day and his magic has gone. After some adventures, he goes to see the Great Kra to ask for his help.

“You are stupid,” said the old man. “You just wasted your magic instead of helping people.”

“What!” Melric almost shouted. “I’ve always helped people. I’ve done everything for them.”

“That’s just the trouble,” said Kra. “You’ve taught them to rely on you, and when you fail them they can’t do a thing for themselves. That’s not helping them.”

(Melric learns his lesson, gets his magic back, and the people learn to do things for themselves…).