"There once lived and old, old man who had nearly everything he wanted. . . .Yet, he was most unhappy. . . .Oh! How he wished to be young again, to play and run and dance! It was the only thing he wanted. . . .He tried everything he knew, but still he kept right on growing older."

Thus begins The Magic Fountain by Sadyebeth and Anson Lowitz, a rollicking tale about Ponce de Leon and his search for the Fountain of Youth. An Indian chief, learning of Ponce de Leon's wish, tells him about a magic fountain where anyone who bathes and drinks its sparkling water will become young again, right then and there. This sounds good to Ponce de Leon and the very next morning off he sails to find the magic fountain, but, as you will see, his adventures were only beginning.

Widely recognized as a children's classic, The Magic Fountain is as delightfully appealing today to both children and adults as it was when first published thirty years ago. It was the fourth of the Really Truly Stories written Mr. and Mrs. Lowitz for their small daughter, Bobbin, in response to her request for real stories about real people. During its writing, the manuscript was "tried out" on Bobbin and her friends and edited according to their suggestions. Every incident portrayed was based on historic fact and the words used checked against recognized vocabularies for young children. The charming pictures by Anson Lowitz and the witty though simple text make this an ideal book for a child to look at and read to himself and a treat for parents to read aloud. By bringing past events to life and turning historic characters into real people, Mr. and Mrs. Lowitz have made learning history enjoyable.

From the dust jacket of the 1962 edition