The pudding himself is named Albert, and although he does enjoy being eaten, as you can see from the picture he is quite a belligerent fellow. He travels about the Australian bush in the company of the Noble Society of Pudding Owners (Bill Barnacle the sailor, Bunyip Bluegum the koala - that's him looking foppish next to the pudding - and Sam Sawnoff the penguin), trying not to get stolen by Pudding Thieves.The Magic Pudding is magic because he can change flavors to whatever you like, and no matter how many slices you cut off him, he remains whole. How useful would that be? Also, no wonder I liked this book - it's about food, and all-you-can-eat buffet at that.
The Magic Pudding is as charming as Snugglepot & Cuddlepie, but has the added joy of an unpleasant protagonist in the Pudding. Albert is a bit of a rude bastard. The classic Australian sense of humor is cheeky, impudent and irreverent, but can also be very dry, and this is exactly the tone of The Magic Pudding. I don't actually have a copy of the book, so this is the only decent quote I could find via the internet. It gives you some idea of the joy:
"None of the ordinary breakfast rules, such as scowling while eating, and saying the porridge is as stiff as glue and the eggs are as tough as leather, are observed. Instead, songs, roars of laughter, and boisterous jests are the order of the day. For example, this sort of thing," added Sam, doing a rapid back-flap and landing with a thump on Bill’s head. As Bill was unprepared for this act of boisterous humour, his face was pushed into the Puddin’ with great violence, and the gravy was splashed in his eye.
"What d’yer mean, playing such bungfoodling tricks on a man at breakfast?" roared Bill.
"What d’yer mean," shouted the Puddin’, "playing such foodbungling tricks on a Puddin’ being breakfasted at?"
The Wikipedia page on the Magic Pudding is quite good and has a little more detail, whereas I'm working pretty much entirely off memory here!
