MAGIC WORDS of their heritage as immigrants, pioneers, and frontiersmen, a people with shallow roots."19 In Literature: • L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz (1900) • "What do I have to do, close my eyes and click my heels three times while I repeat the magic words -- there's no place like home, there's no place like home. . ." -- Lisa Kaniut Cobb, Some Luck (2004) They Lived Happily Ever After (see once upon a time) Facts: "They Lived Happily Ever After" is an English "closing formula" 0 for fables, magic tales, and "any tall story told to amuse, deceive, or console." 21 Such formulae draw "the listener into the realm of magic." Variations and Incantations: • They lived well, we even better -- Margaret Alexiou, After Antiquity: Greek Language, Myth, and Metaphor (2002) Thick, Brick, Fiddlestick, Tickle, Pickle, Limerick, Magic Words Do the Trick In Literature: • "With a very grand voice, he said, 'And now I, Lioneldini, super escape artist, will escape. Could you close the door, please?' Leona knew a few things about magic tricks, too. 'Wait a minute!' she said. 'Magic words! Do you know Houdini's magic words?' 'No,' said Lionel. 'Houdini didn't use magic words! It takes skill to do a trick, not magic words! Now close the door -- I'm escaping!' But Leona still wanted to help Lionel get out, so Click helped her pick some magic words. 'Thick, brick, fiddlestick, tickle, pickle, limerick, magic words do the trick!' said Click. Back at the closet, Leona spoke the magic words. 'Thick, brick, fiddlestick, tickle, pickle, limerick, magic words do the trick!' She opened the door and . . . Lionel was gone!" -- "Lionel's Great Escape Trick," PBSkids.org (2002) 19 Diane Ravitch, The American Reader (2000) 20 William F. Hansen, Ariadne's Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature (2002) 21 Margaret Alexiou, After Antiquity: Greek Language, Myth, and Metaphor (2002) Ibid.