The Silver Thief by Cosentino and Jack Heath

Illus. by James Hart. The Mysterious World of Cosentino book 4. Scholastic, 2019. ISBN: 9781742999326.
(Age: 7-9) Themes: Magicians, Adventure. Cosentino, the Grand Illusionist returns in his fourth entertaining story, once again, filled with magic, illusions, underwater adventure and daring escapes. The Silver Thief steps off immediately after the previous novel The Lost Treasure and these junior illustrated novels need to be read in order.
Cosentino is excitedly preparing to open his new Coppertown magic theatre and is practising an escape from a big block of ice. While the dummy in the ice fools the crowd, the disguised illusionist takes a walk in the park and has a chance encounter with a mysterious figure. Cosentino is told about the evil King of Diamonds who has slaves working in his silver mine and is keeping the profits out of Coppertown.
With friends Ace and Princess Priscilla, Cosentino adopts a creative disguise to fool the Svengali guards and enter the mine. Is it a trap? Who does the King have slaving away in his mines? With the help of some clever tricks Cosentino rescues the slaves, just in time for his opening performance.
Jack Heath and Cosentino have created a cast of interesting characters, added plenty of adventure and some exciting tricks. James Hart's black, white and turquoise cartoon illustrations add drama to this easy-to-read novel for ages 7-9. For the budding magician, there are step-by-step instructions to make a vision box.
Rhyllis Bignell