Uncle Gus's Magic Box

"A boy receives a strange inheritance, with outrageously funny results."

When a young boy receives a magician's box from his long-lost uncle, he can't believe his luck. What kid wouldn't want to be a magician?

Dad grabs his tools to open the box, but the boy finds the key. Inside is everything a conjuror needs: top hat, wand, and props galore. Yet nothing seems to work. Just when enchantment appears out of reach, the boy discovers instructions... for sawing a person in half.

As Spoof, the dog, looks on, the junior magician convinces his father to climb into the box. But a critical error leads to a divided Dad. "Funnily, it doesn't hurt at all," he reports. Nevertheless, a papa in two just won't do. The boy ties him together with bandages, rechecks the instructions, and even calls an ambulance.

But magic can only be fixed by magic, and it is Spoof who sniffs out the solution: Use the magician's saw, not Dad's old rusty one. Soon father is whole again, and it's celebratory cookies all around. But hold it -- now Dad wants a turn as magician. It's only fair to split the fun...

This wildly funny, easy-to-read story jumps off the page, accented by the highly amusing black and white illustrations.