Are you involved in entertaining, stimulating and educating bright, lively 8-12 year old children? We produced two, and one of them has now presented us with two equally bright and exhausting granddaughters. The Magic Numbers series of books is my contribution towards helping them and others to entertain and stimulate children who need more than they will get from any normal school, however dedicated and enthusiastic the teachers are. Much of the content is the kind of thing you find in books by authors sch as Martin Gardner, Simon Singh or Alex Bellos, but aimed at children who have not yet learned enough mathematics to really enjoy those wonderful books. I do not believe in showing children tricks and keepig them in the dark about why they work. That insults their intelligence and robs them of knowledge they are perfectly well able to assimilate. Wherever I can, I explain how tricks work, and encourage readers to try to expand on them.