Children's Books discussion

October is a good month to delve into books about witches, wizards, and sorcerers. Participants are welcome to post about non-fiction, folklore, fiction, or picture books.

My favorite witch book is The Little Green Witch, a clever riff on The Little Red Hen.

I also like Witch Poems, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.

We must remember, of course, that Harry Potter and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe feature witches, of course.

And if any of you use a library that bought the reprints of any of the little witch stories by Ruth Chew, check them out. I loved the few I knew when younger, and imo they hold up well enough even for today's more jaded kids.

My favorite is another classic, don't know if you can find it, The Witch Family. I actually have lots of classic children's witch stories on my shelves if anyone wants to look.

Meanwhile I've ordered a few from my local library. Of course, most are checked out atm....

Oops, I closed the tab; I'll have to post the link later. But on librarything.com I found a lost book query full of witch books, especially 'handbook' style books. Led me to some interesting titles, including Guess What? by Mem Fox, which I enjoyed on openlibrary.org.

The Winter Witch

(view spoiler)[With Clay Bonnyman Evans' 2005 picture book The Winter Witch, Christmas does not seem to be anything but horrid this year and also very much different for young protagonist Stephen, with his parents divorced, his mother living in California (and although not specifically textually mentioned by Bonnyman Evans perhaps not having custody of Stephen and his older sister Sarah either), his father married to Deborah, and with everyone now living at the stepmother's house (that Deborah's and her son Ari's home is now also Stephen's, Sarah's and their father's home).

And with Deborah and Ari being Jewish and Hanukkah celebrations thus of course featuring prominently (although Clay Bonnyman Evans also points out in The Winter Witch that the house has both a Christmas tree and a menorah), Stephen is shown by Bonnyman Evans as obviously and strongly emotionally finding it rather difficult to cope with and to accept all these changes and in particular that his beloved dog Dewey is constantly at odds with Deborah and Ari's cat Polly (not to mention that Dewey is also pretty much solely being blamed for those spats as well). Therefore when Dewey is booted out of the house in The Winter Witch after yet another pretty violent encounter with Polly (and will according to Stephen's father have to remain outside in the cold until he learns to no longer stalk and bother Polly) Stephen also storms out into the woods in anger and there encounters Mathilda, a mysterious elderly woman whom Stephen's stepbrother Ari has described as being a witch. But instead of being someone in any way frightening or uncanny, as someone in any manner sorceress like, Mathilda (and for me very much delightfully) is textually shown by Bonnyman Evans in The Winter Witch as basically a nature and wildlife loving wise and sweet-tempered woman, as someone who uses a Yule log in her fireplace instead of a Christmas tree, who strings berries and popcorn on the trees outside of her home for wintering birds, who has Stephen cut a hole into the ice of a nearby pond so that wildlife can drink and who shows the angry and frustrated with Christmas and life in general Stephen that there is in fact not much difference between winter celebrations such as Yule, Hanukkah and Christmas (since they all celebrate light, comfort and warmth) and that his dog can also get along with cats (and yes, when Stephen returns home at the end of The Winter Witch with a much more positive and optimistic attitude, this also seems to have been transferred to his dog, as Dewey accepts Polly and no longer tries to antagonise and harass her).

A lovely little tale (for me at least) The Winter Witch has been, but not really (and for that I am in fact glad) about anything magical and witchy but rather a sweet and emotionally satisfying story about blended families, about how winter celebrations are often very much similar with their focus on light, on joy, and yes, that wildlife, that birds, raccoons, cougars, rabbits etc. also deserve treats and comfort during the yuletide season. But while I really do absolutely adore Clay Bonnyman Evans' presented text for The Winter Witch, sorry, but the same can unfortunately not be said by me with regard to Robert Bender's accompanying artwork. For while there is an interesting impressionistic visual feel to Bender's pictures and that they also do a pretty decent job visually mirroring Bonnyman Evans' printed words, the way Bender uses colours in The Winter Witch is far too often a bit too clashingly garish and his human figures are (at least for me and in my opinion) rather aesthetically strange and also often make no logical sense either (such as for example that how Robert Bender has illustratively rendered Stephen's sister Sarah as she is seated on the sofa with Ari makes her look not like the teenager she is supposed to be but rather appearing more like a decrepit and frail old woman, and that Mathilda, while she does not look like a witch of course and fortunately in The Winter Witch also visually appears not really as someone all that approachable but more like some remote and cold goddess like figure, and which according to the author's, according to Clay Bonnyman Evans' featured text for The Winter Witch is most definitely not the case at all).

And thus, for me, while Bonnyman Evans' presented story for The Winter Witch is solidly and wonderfully, delightfully five stars for me, the illustrations are just not all that aesthetically appealing so that therefore the combination of words and artwork for The Winter Witch can only be three stars, a high three stars of course and I do in fact recommend The Winter Witch, but that no, with Robert Bender's not really visually appealing to me accompanying pictures, I cannot really consider a higher rating for The Winter Witch. (hide spoiler)]

Lovely story, but I did not at all enjoy the illustrations and found them garish.

Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story

(view spoiler)[So I do very much realise that Harriet Ziefert's Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story is meant to be simplistic and is as such also totally geared towards younger children first learning how to count from one to ten (adding up to ten but of course then also subtracting down to zero). However and albeit that with regard to showing bona fide counting practice Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story does generally succeed sufficiently well enough in and of itself, I have definitely also found Harriet's Ziefert's text (how she actually presents the numbers from one to ten on paper) not only (and probably by necessity) rather monotonous in scope but also more than a bit awkward in cadence and rhythm, and actually sometimes even a trifle strangely involved and convoluted even with the featured and to be expected textual repetitiveness and simplicity of Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story (leaving an in my opinion rather strange melange of over-busyness and over-superficiality).

And well, considering that this rather frustrating state of affairs is then also mirrored (at least in my humble opinion) with and by Simms Taback's expressively colourful and bright but also (for my aesthetics and tastes) visually much too busy accompanying illustrations (since yes and in my opinion, how ridiculously scrunched together the featured trick or treating characters are depicted by Simms Taback as being certainly tends to make physically counting them whilst following along with Harriet Ziefert's printed words rather difficult at times and especially so for those readers/listeners who might have visual tracking issues), while I would still (even though with some reservations and caveats) recommend Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story, for me personally, two stars is the maximum ranking I am willing and able to consider (because yes indeed, even as a young child, I would more than likely have found Harriet Ziefert's text for Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story tedious and Simms Taback's illustrations much too difficult and buzzing to easily track and follow with regard to counting the presented, the depicted Halloween characters). (hide spoiler)]

Not really to my taste, and my inner child agrees.

The Christmas Witch

(view spoiler)[Although I have found the illustrations for Steven Kellogg's The Christmas Witch colourful and for the most part delightfully and yes often also humorously descriptive, truth be told, but I cannot even remotely consider Kellogg's presented text as being to my reading tastes. For aside from The Christmas Witch feeling and reading like a rather strange mixture of Witch Academy (such as J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and Gillian Murphy's The Worst Witch series) and a bit of science fiction clad in the loose garments of Mediaevalism thematics, both the main antagonist, Madame Pestilence, and the positive and heroic characters presented, they are all and sundry in my opinion frustratingly and annoyingly too one-sidedly stereotypically evil or good (in a manner that while Steven Kellogg obviously means this to be humorous and engaging, it just does not work and becomes massively tedious and boring, with especially that angel character feeling like a standard Hallmark Christmas card entity with no deep significance and Madame Pestilence and her minions too cardboard thin to even somewhat find interesting and engaging).

And in fact, the ONLY characters in The Christmas Witch whom I personally have found somewhat believable and relatable are the Pepperwills and the Valdoons (even if they are seemingly aliens, albeit aliens who both look and act like mediaeval knights and ladies). For yes, it does make basic common sense that even after Gloria has renovated the castle, that after centuries of animosity and feuding, both Pepperwills and Valdoons would naturally still be suspicious of each other and would not suddenly and out of the blue become firm and committed friends.

Now while I do kind of appreciate the final message of The Christmas Witch that in order to keep the magic of Christmas, to keep Madame Pestilence from reappearing and wreaking havoc, the Pepperwills and the Valdoons will need to permanently bury their proverbial hatchets and become allies, in my opinion, the entire storyline of The Christmas Witch has been at best rather forced and artificial, not to mention on the surface, and with not really all that much authorial originality either (for indeed, I do find that Steven Kellogg has just taken a bunch of common fairy tale and fantasy plot elements and melded them into a strange and uninspiring, monotonous whole, with a bit of science fiction thrown in for good measure and characters who are for the most part undeveloped and lacking in any kind of nuance). Two stars maximum (and yes, those two stars are actually and really only for the fact that I do find the illustrations accompanying the narrative visually enchanting and aesthetically pleasing, for if I were to consider The Christmas Witch according to how much I have not found Steven Kellogg's text to my likes and reading tastes, I would only be ranking this book with one star). (hide spoiler)]

Good illustrations, annoying story!

Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll

(view spoiler)[As a story and in and of itself, I very much enjoy Hiawyn Oram's Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll. Too-Nice's doll (a with a living and active spirit imbued memento of her deceased mother) behaves in many ways like a benevolent and much more non demanding Rumpelstlizchen or perhaps Cinderella's tame mice and birds, physically helping the heroine complete the three tasks (the magical number three again) set by Baba Yaga, and Too-Nice then repays the doll's services by listening to and acting on her wise council (not asking for a toad for Horrid and Very-Horrid, but telling Baba Yaga that she has come to be frightened by her, as that is Baba Yaga's vocation, thereby much impressing and cheering Baba Yaga and with Too-Nice still receiving as a reward what she had originally planned to ask for, two of Baba Yaga's toads).

That Too-Nice might, in fact, actually be simply the non nastily temperamental and non troublesome manifestation of the same little girl (and that the toads which gobble up Horrid and Very-Horrid are thus simply ridding the former of her not so nice and not so stellar personality traits, leaving a girl who is neither too nice nor too horrid but just right) is ingenious and interesting (but I am not so sure I would have easily recognised this somewhat hidden potential meaning of Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll without Ruth Brown's accompanying illustrations which clearly show that the three little girls are mirror images of one another and thus either triplets or much more likely three distinct personality types of one and the same). In fact, the illustrations provide not only a successful and evocative mirror and expansion of Hiawyn Oram's narrative, Ruth Brown's pictorial offerings also clearly demonstrate that this Baba Yaga is most definitely more ambiguous than simply and demonically evil, with both nurturing and frightening qualities, somewhat witch-like perhaps, but not really the traditional evil and demonic witch of culture and folklore. For while she is definitely frightening, this Baba Yaga is actually described and depicted (by both text and image) as much more akin to the ambiguous forest mother and Frau Holle archetypes of Russian and European culture and lore, both positive and negative, a harsh and potentially even dangerous examiner, but also a tester who, if her tasks are completed with satisfaction and the right questions are asked, will not hesitate to offer deserved and useful rewards.

Now as much as I do enjoy and appreciate both Hiawyn Oram's text and Ruth Brown accompanying images, I cannot really consider ranking Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll with more than three stars (although as a story it is or would be definitely be worth closer to four or perhaps even five stars). For considering that this is a retelling of a traditional Russian folk tale (likely the well-known Vasilisa the Beautiful, where the heroine Vasilisa also has her deceased mother's treasured wooden doll and and is sent by her evil and nasty stepmother to fetch light from Baba Yaga's hut, encountering similar tasks and similar questions as are encountered by Too-Nice in Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll), I simply do neither understand nor even accept that there has not been an author's note included (not only would such an author's note increase the academic and folkloric value of Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll, but frankly I consider the fact that the author has chosen not to include any kind of acknowledgment of her sources as rather an insult to both Russian folklore in general and to Alexander Afanasyev, who is credited with having first collected and published the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful). (hide spoiler)]

Needs an author's note, but enjoyable.

Dorrie and the Play

(view spoiler)[Delightfully sweetly simple and indeed also a total celebration of the power of imagination and dealing with potential problems and setbacks that arise resourcefully and with thoughtful genius, Patricia Coombs' Dorrie and the Play is the very first of the Dorrie, the Little Witch books I have had the pleasure to read (an appreciated Christmas present from my Goodreads friend Abigail and yes, I am now definitely determined to continue with the remainder of the series, although it does sadly seem as though many of the series tomes are not in current, are not in recent print anymore).

And while I do admit that I certainly was a bit surprised at first how in Dorrie and the Play there is actually no sorcery at all being either used or even described (as Dorrie creates her fairy tale play using imaginative costumes and hilariously, also a can of sardines to get her cat Gink to cooperate and participate, and yes, even Dorrie's mother, the Big Witch, does not end up using any kind of magic to fix her accidentally shortened costume gown, but simply alters it a trifle to suit the new circumstances), I actually have both not only not at all missed the absence of witchery and magic, but also do very much appreciate how Patricia Coombs in Dorrie and the Play shows and demonstrates that first and foremost Dorrie is simply a standard little girl with a pet cat (living in a house with a grumpy but actually deep down inside of herself sweetly tempered cook and a mother who is at times perhaps a bit distant and prone to headaches but also always willing to indulge her daughter's imagination and to not go overboard with anger when/if things might go a bit awry). Highly recommended and in my opinion perfect for beginning readers is Dorrie and the Play (and with both Patricia Coombs' story and her expressively fun accompanying artwork providing a lovely and entertainingly engaging marriage of text and imagery). (hide spoiler)]

Really liked story and wish the series were more readily available.

Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters

(view spoiler)[Perhaps a tiny bit overly simple with regard to how quickly everything (and all potential issues and emerging problems) end up being resolved (and how easily Dorrie also seems to always reach the correct and best conclusions and thereby saving the day so to speak), but yes, Patricia Coombs' Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters has most certainly made me rather broadly smile with reading pleasure (and yes indeed, I do very much enjoy that it is in fact also a series of inadvertent conjuring mistakes as to why Dorrie is in fact able to successfully gentle and deal with the monsters of Dreamland, to save the Dream Witch from her imprisonment and to also end up with a very cute and cuddly monster pet, although I have to wonder what Gink the cat might think of Dorrie's new playmate).

Delightfully penned and not ever either too creepy or too frightening, Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters is (in my humble opinion) an almost totally and utterly perfect and magical reading gem to share with children who might want and desire tales of witches, monsters and magic but who are not as yet quite emotionally and psychologically ready and mature enough to face, say, the much more frightening and at times even horrifying worlds of the Harry Potter series (and of course, Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters would also be a wonderful personal reading experience for recently independent readers, with author/illustrator Patricia Coombs' artwork providing a sweet and descriptively lovely in every way visual accompaniment to her equally magical and imaginative narrative).

Highly recommended is Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters, and indeed, my only complaint is actually that the majority of the Dorrie the Little Witch series of books is not in current print and not all that easily available even used (and yes, often rather majorly expensive if one manages to in fact locate a title). And thus, I really do wish that Egmont UK Limited (which has recently republished Dorrie and the Play, Dorrie and the Dreamyard Monsters, Dorrie and the Blue Witch and Dorrie and the Wizard's Spell) would also consider the same for the remainder of the series. (hide spoiler)]

Fun but also a bit basic, but I enjoyed that.

Jenny Greenteeth

A witch who needs better dental hygiene!!

(view spoiler)[So perhaps the resolution, perhaps the all-round happy ending for Mary Alice Downie’s 1984 picture book Jenny Greenteeth is or at least could possibly be a bit overly quick and simple, since all it really takes for Jenny Greenteeth to look presentable again and no longer appear as physically abhorrent and as such also frightening to and for The Beaches area children is brushing her slimy green teeth one time with a toothbrush and some toothpaste (and yes, I definitely do adore the very specific Toronto, Ontario, Canada location). However and in my humble opinion, Jenny Greenteeth and the messages encountered and presented by Mary Alice Downie’s text of both not being all that much frightened and turned off by different physical appearances and also though that one can indeed make a better and more inherently positive physical impression on others through simple and basic personal hygiene practices (like adequate dental care) are both important and in my opinion a good childhood lesson, but yes, that like young David does in Jenny Greenteeth with him and without much fanfare and verbal pontification simply handing Jenny the green toothed and slimy looking water witch some toothpaste and a toothbrush, one can and should approach the potentially problematic and fraught with potential misunderstandings topic of not sufficient personal hygiene diplomatically and in a non shaming, non nastily confrontational manner.

Therefore, Jenny Greenteeth is not really a story of a truly physically and internally frightening witch but rather a featured account where water witch Jenny only looks a bit physically off-putting and scary because she has not been adequately physically caring for herself and in particular her teeth, a fun little original tale with a delightful but not too heavy handed message that adequate dental hygiene is both easy and important, perfect in my opinion for introducing this to the so-called picture book crowd and of course especially suitable for young witch-enthusiasts who like reading or hearing about non horrifying and generally positive and friendly witches. And yes, Jenny Greenteeth is indeed a friendly witch, since her generally happy and optimistic nature returns in full force once her newly brushed teeth are gleaming white and she no longer looks green toothed.

And finally, with regard to Barbara Reid’s expressive and full of movement black and white artwork, it really does provide a visually delightful, both expressive and occasionally even quite humorous accompaniment to Mary Alice Downie’s printed words (although personally, I would probably have enjoyed the illustrations for Jenny Greenteeth just a bit more on an aesthetic level if Barbara Reid had rendered them in colour, if her pictures had not been entirely black and white). (hide spoiler)]

The Ghost Drum

(view spoiler)[Yes indeed, as someone who has always enjoyed fairy and folk tales, I simply adore how (and like actually quite common in Slavic lore), Susan Price has her 1987 Carnegie Medal winning original young adult fairy tale novel The Ghost Drum being presented as a story told by an ever-present narrator, in this particular case by an educated and talking cat (delightfully reminding me both of Charles Perrault's Puss in Boots and E.T.A. Hoffmann's Tomcat Murr), that at the beginning and at the head of each chapter of The Ghost Drum said tethered feline introduces the scenes and the characters and with at the conclusion of The Ghost Drum, the tale-telling cat then asking the listener (or the reader) to pass along the featured account so that it may continue its journey (and which of course plays homage to the fact that originally storytelling was oral in nature, that written literature only came along much later and of course owes its very existence to word-of-mouth).

And well, considering that The Ghost Drum is obviously absolutely, totally meant to be read as a fairy tale (or as a folk tale), Susan Price also does definitely tend to keep her featured text almost entirely focused on setting, description and bien sûr on the presented plot and not really all that much on character development, not on providing literary depth and nuances. But very much thankfully so this, for indeed, if The Ghost Drum were textually concentrating on individual characters and on their external and internal lives and thoughts, one could in my opinion really no longer be considering Price's narrative as being a true fairy tale (and yes, even an original one), since with fairy and with folk tales, the presented plot is generally meant to be epical and the different scenarios and events being shown to occur are what is essential and that ALL characters actually should mirror this and are often really more narrational devices to move along the story from beginning to climax, to the conclusion. So yes indeed, that Susan Price totally does the latter with The Ghost Drum, it really makes me hugely textually happy, as far too often original novels and novellas labelled as fairy and folktale like kind of seem to drown what is essential, namely the storyline, in philosophy, internal character traits and their development.

Therefore, that the The Ghost Drum basically features a verbally very much straight-forward moving tale full full full of a multitude of facts and events, featuring Chingis' journey from birth to death and back to birth again (as a woman of power, as a female shaman and white witch, as a type of Baba Yaga figure who even resides in a hut on top of the well known in Slavic tradition chicken legs) to fight against evil in the form of Tsar Guidon and his sister Magaretta, as well as the jealous and obviously misogynist shaman Kuzma (and to place the rescued Tsarevitch Safa onto the throne), yes this all has made for a very exciting and interesting reading experience for me with regard to The Ghost Drum, and with me totally adoring how Susan Price cleverly uses not only Slavic folklore but also Western European myth (such as for example the Greek myth of Persephone, and that in order to return from the land of the dead, one must not eat or drink anything whilst there) and how she also inverts the classic fairy tale trope of the princess in the tower by having with Tzarevitch Safa an imprisoned prince in the tower. And of course and finally, The Ghost Drum with its textual focus on the external happenings and not on the internal, not on what and how the characters inhabiting the pages of The Ghost Drum think, feel and have as their Weltanschauung, this of course (to and for me) totally renders The Ghost Drum into a true and bona fide fairy tale and not into a fantasy story with some folkloristic and fairy tale elements. (hide spoiler)]

Love how Baba Yaga is not just an evil witch.

Die kleine Hexe (Have not read this in English and do not like the removals of the updated versions in German and that the author was seemingly and as a very old man bullied by activists and his publisher into agreeing to this, boo and hiss from me).

(view spoiler)[Die kleine Hexe -- 2013 Kindle Edition

When I was a young child in Germany, Otfried Preußler's 1957 children's classic Die kleine Hexe (The Little Witch in English translation) and how she learns to be a successful spell caster and equally to also rebel and actively stand against the older witches for whom being a good witch means by nature and necessity being a curmudgeonly and evil one, this was one of my favourite bedtime stories (a lovely and imaginative tale, totally in tune with childhood wonder but also presenting an important message and lesson that to become good at something, such as with the little witch's attempts to practice, improve and perfect her sorcery, this indeed should also always mean obtaining success without doing harm to others, that one's own success should never be painful for others and should also be helpful to and for society).

And yes, if I were to simply read Die kleine Hexe as a story in and of itself (and of course, this also would mean reading the original 1957 version) I would most certainly be gladly and smilingly ranking this book with a solid five stars (and a permanent place on my favourites shelf). But sadly, I do not (or rather I no longer) own a copy of the latter and the 2013 Kindle edition of Die kleine Hexe unfortunately presents some rather sillily ignorant modern-day word changes and omissions, where for example, village children celebrating carnival dressed as negroes in 1957, in 2013, they have been labelled and described as knife throwers instead, and words such as gypsy have also been removed and expunged because of supposed political incorrectness (totally naive and at best problematic in my opinion for a children's novel penned and published in 1957, and really, if parents etc. have issues with some of the words used in Die kleine Hexe they should simply discuss this with their children instead of like what has indeed happened, officially whining and complaining to the publisher and actually getting Thienemann Verlag to not only change around these oh so "horrible" words but also to seemingly and quite strongly bully and cajole Otfried Preußler's family to agree to these changes, as Preußler himself was certainly always and rightfully so totally against any such censorship, alterations and removals).

And thus, while I do still love love love Die kleine Hexe, there is no way that I am going to be ranking the 2013 Kindle edition with its to and for me both totally unnecessary and also inappropriate textual changes with more than three stars (and sadly since ALL post 2013 versions of Die kleine Hexe whether they be e-books or traditional dead tree tomes do seem to present and include the above mentioned alterations and omissions, I would certainly and very strongly suggest that interested readers consider trying to obtain older and as such pre 2013 versions of this book).

Furthermore and indeed most definitely, I also categorically am pointing out that no indeed, I for one absolutely have never thought and will never think as some reviewers seem to believe that Otfried Preußler's narrative, that his Die kleine Hexe is in any manner supposed to represent with the battle and juxtaposition of the good little witch and the evil older witches some kind of allegory of National Socialism. For honestly, the older witches making the little witch's life miserable, they are simply run of the mill nasties and yes the kind one often encounters in good versus evil fairy and fantasy stories and on a global level at that (and furthermore, in my opinion, if Die kleine Hexe were in fact not a post WWII German children's literature classic, I for one seriously do doubt that anyone would even consider the possibility of the storyline and themes being somehow and strangely related to Naziism). (hide spoiler)]

Tomorrow's Wizard

Have not found this all that interesting, just a two star reading experience, fractured, tedious and glad to have found it on Open Library.

(view spoiler)[Well, the short little and sometimes rather fractured stories themselves as they are presented by Patricia MacLachlan in her 1982 middle grade fantasy Tomorrow’s Wizard are with regard to their basic thematics and contents sufficiently fun and interesting enough for me to have kept reading with not total but still with more than necessary textual pleasure. However, and in my humble opinion, for ALL of the presented and original fairy tale like pieces of prose which Patricia MacLachlan features throughout Tomorrow’s Wizard, both my adult self and equally my inner child are definitely a bit disappointed and both needing and wanting considerably more content based detail from MacLachlan’s pen, more character building and much more of a solid setting of in particular place, leaving me decently enough entertained by but also not in any manner even remotely wowed or textually swept off of my proverbial feet with Tomorrow’s Wizard (and also kind of expecting more of a tie-in, more of a textual connection between the stories and the wizards of the surrounding narrative frame).

And furthermore, and yes, what has finally decided me on granting not three but only two stars for Tomorrow’s Wizard, while the lack of a real and palpable (as well as making common sense) connection between the presented stories for Tomorrow’s Wizard and the surrounding narrative frame is already more than a bit frustrating and annoying, even more of a personal reading issue is that while Patricia MacLachlan has certainly done a decent enough textual job on those featured tales, the narrating wizards of Tomorrow’s Wizard are not only tediously and totally uninterestingly penned, MacLachlan’s explanations of what separates humans from wizards and wizards from humans are never once even remotely adequately explained and analysed, leaving the reasons why Murdoch and Tomorrow (and what a weird name, even for a Wizard) actually want to, actually would rather be human majorly lacking and the combination of narrative background and the stories that are seemingly meant connect with and to the background and the wizards incomplete, choppy and feeling as though far too much is missing in action so to speak.

Finally, I also find Kathy Jacobi’s artwork for Tomorrow’s Wizard neither aesthetically all that pleasant nor really even a necessary accompaniment with regard to Patricia MacLachlan’s printed words. Because to and for me, Jacobi’s black and white pictures are stagnant and one dimensional, and if they are supposed to present a true and successful visual mirror to and for MacLachlan’s text, this certainly has not happened here, this is not really at all the case with Tomorrow’s Wizard. (hide spoiler)]

Wizard's Hall

Remember not liking this, found it hugely tedious, and no, there is in my opinion no plagiarism by J.K. Rowling either.

(view spoiler)[Yes, Jane Yolen’s 1991 children’s fantasy novel Wizard’s Hall does indeed feel a bit like J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (or rather, I should instead point out that Wizard’s Hall and the Harry Potter series are somewhat alike in their superficialities, in their general set-ups), but definitely and in my opinion NOT IN ANY MANNER with enough similarities for Jane Yolen to have any reason whatsoever to even remotely accuse J.K. Rowling of actual plagiarism, of actively having copied large chunks of text from her Wizard’s Hall.

For honestly, truly and after now having read both the Harry Potter novels and Wizard’s Hall, the former are all much more in-depth and as such also considerably more interestingly and engagingly penned than Wizard’s Hall (which really does for the most part remain rather tediously on the surface so to speak and also has none of the intricate world and word building as well as very little of the humour and delightful irony that J.K. Rowling makes such ample and entertaining use of in her novels about Harry Potter and his friends, with even the main protagonist in Wizard’s Hall, with even Henry Thornmallow not reading so much like Harry Potter but more akin if I actually do want to find a link to Neville Longbottom). Therefore, only three and rather unconvincing stars for Wizard’s Hall (for a decent enough but ultimately still rather unspectacular, even mildly disappointing story) albeit I have indeed now lowered my general rating to but two starts, because well, I do personally feel both more than a bit annoyed at and frustrated by Jane Yolen’s pedestrian and silly attempts of trying to accuse J.K. Rowling of plagiarism (and indeed, this all sure to and for me also does tend to sound like either a case of sour grapes or Jane Yolen trying to make publicity for her obviously not as popular and also not as good Wizard’s Hall and which I certainly do find at best rather childish on her part). (hide spoiler)]

The Witch of Beaver Creek Mine

Rosemarie Nervelle tries hard, but this story just totally fizzled out for me.

(view spoiler)[Truth be told, Rosemarie Nervelle does certainly try extremely hard (and perhaps even somewhat too much so) in her set in rural 1940s Nova Scotia The Witch of Beaver Creek Mine to present and convey to her young readers the important message that one should see and approach people from how they are on the inside and to for the most part rather ignore physical appearances (and in particular to not let physical features that on the surface might seem ugly and possibly even repellent, like Old Maud's disfigured face, dictate one's acceptance or non-acceptance of one another). However, while the above is of course and naturally an essential lesson to be learned by children, by anyone in fact, in The Witch of Beaver Creek Mine, this is all and sadly, frustratingly shown and told by the author in a much too simplistic and monotonous manner, with main character Johnny Lightfoot in my opinion also changing his mind a trifle too quickly about Old Maud and almost immediately becoming her firm friend and ally (after she recuses him from an abandoned mineshaft), and in particular considering how Johnny had been almost paranoid with fear regarding Old Maud until then.

And yes, even the ending of The Witch of Beaver Creek Mine (where Old Maud drowns in the mine whilst rescuing two lost boys), to me this all tends to feel and read almost like a bit of a narrational sermon, with Old Maud being cast as the necessary social sacrifice in order to shake up the townspeople and have them realise the errors of their ways and henceforth become more charitable and accepting of individuals who are different, who have physical and/or mental challenges (such as the now deceased Old Maud, of course, but I for one both do not think that it is necessary for Rosemarie Nervelle to have to basically and simply kill Old Maud off so to speak in order to make her point and indeed, I equally do wish that the entire storyline of The Witch of Beaver Creek Mine were a bit less preachy, less on the surface and more both imaginative and interest-retaining). (hide spoiler)]

Little Witches: Magic in Concord


Although this graphic novel mash of of Little Women seems to have quite a lot of fans, sorry, but everything about Little Witches: Magic in Concord made me gag and retch.

(view spoiler)[Although I was not really expecting Leigh Dragoon’s Little Witches: Magic in Concord, her 2020 graphic novel adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's classic Little Women to be a unilaterally enjoyable personal reading (and viewing) experience (and mostly because I am not all that much a fan of graphic novels by any stretch of my imagination anyhow and that the entire premise presented by Dragoon in Little Witches: Magic in Concord of Louisa May Alcott's March Sisters being cast as witches also just does not really tickle my reading fancy), I do have to admit that I am in fact and indeed pretty negatively and frustratingly surprised just how much the combination of Leigh Dragoon’s words and her accompanying images in Little Witches: Magic in Concord was and is totally and utterly NOT AT ALL to my liking.

Sure, there are a few parts of Little Witches: Magic in Concord that I have kind of appreciated and even mildly enjoyed, mostly in the first part, which does seem to present an interesting combination of Little Women and actual and historically authentic Alcott family history (and yes, the presented textual information on transcendentalism is definitely intriguing, although having Leigh Dragoon then combine transcendentalism with witchery and magic really does leave me personally rather cold, unaffected and even a trifle annoyed).

But truly, the second part of Little Witches: Magic in Concord, it has indeed just majorly frustrated me, it has not been even remotely pleasurable for me. For not only does Leigh Dragoon make her story in part two veer really too far away from what Louisa May Alcott has penned in Little Women, the entire curse on Concord Massachusetts which needs to be lifted and neutralised by the witchy March Sisters and their witch finding friend Theodore Laurence does not really make all that much sense to me in and of itself and has thus rendered Little Witches: Magic in Concord both strange and also quite hard to fathom (and with an annoyingly abrupt and totally incomplete ending), well, that the featured arch villain in Little Witches: Magic in Concord (the individual creating all that magical havoc in Concord) is Amy March's Confederate in background warlock teacher, not only is that totally surprising and coming out of the proverbial blue so to speak, it also just makes the entire storyline of Little Women: Magic in Concord not at all something fun for me to read, but mostly something silly and tedious.

And combined with the fact that I actually have totally NOT AT ALL aesthetically liked Leigh Dragoon’s artwork (finding the colour scheme she has used in Little Witches: Magic in Concord too dark, the facial features of in particular Meg, Jo and Beth often sinister, squinty and so similar that for much of Little Women: Magic in Concord I have had huge issues telling Meg, Jo and Beth apart), sorry, but I ended up only considering but one star for Little Witches: Magic in Concord (because you know, if I cannot stand the illustrations of a graphic novel, for me, said entire graphic novel simply ends up as majorly hugely problematic and disappointing). (hide spoiler)]

The Worst Witch

A bit simplistic, but a nice pre Harry Potter like story, and I do love how Mildred seems to have dyspraxia.

(view spoiler)[Although I personally have found Jill Murphy's 1974 The Worst Witch a bit too much like the outline of a novel, with not nearly enough descriptiveness and presented details (as well as an ending that feels rather rushed and even a bit of a deus ex machina that leaves me as an older adult reader a bit annoyed and unsatisfied), I also do in fact and indeed much admire the author for having introduced and having featured as main protagonist Mildred Hubble, a young witch in training at Miss Cackle's Academcy, who is always getting her spells wrong, has trouble staying balanced on her broomstick and faces constant criticism and bullying not only from her fellow witch trainees but often also from some if not many of her teachers (for Mildred Hubble as a literary character in a school-based children's story is seemingly one of the first, one of the earliest instances where a character who is probably afflicted with and by clumsiness producing dyspraxia or non verbal learning disability is portrayed, is actually shown to be the protagonist, the main hero/heroine of a novel, and not just a secondary character looking, peering in on the periphery).

Now in many ways, Murphy's Mildred Hubble really does rather remind me of a female version of J.K. Rowling's Neville Longbottom. However, and this is a heavy duty however, for those of you (thankfully not many, but this has unfortunately happened in a select few online reviews I have read) who seek to claim that Jill Murphy has somehow plagiarised her The Worst Witch series from Rowling's Harry Potter series, well, UNLESS Murphy was able to perform a Hermione Grainger like trick of travelling forward in time, the latter is patently and utterly impossible, seeing that The Worst Witch was published in 1974 and the novels about Harry Potter only started being published in the 1990s. Yes, in many ways, both the format and many of the themes of the two series appear to be linked and a bit similar in scope, but they are still independent entities, independent novels in and of themselves (and of course, while J.K. Rowling might also and indeed have been influenced by Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch and its sequels, and had perhaps and even likely read these books as a child, I also in NO way even remotely consider her Harry Potter series as being too close, too similar to the former, except that both series happen to be modern British school story variants and take place in magic and witchery academies).

Now while I must admit that as an adult reader (and as an older adult reader who has perused much classical literature for both pleasure and academics) Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch has generally and a bit frustratingly felt a bit lacking in details and description, and also often seems narratively and textually choppy and unfinished, I do still very much realise that for reluctant and recently independent younger readers who are not yet quite ready for the more intricately depicted and yes, also considerably darker and ominous worlds of Harry Potter, his friends and enemies, Mildred Hubble, Miss Cackle et al provide a suitable, engagingly entertaining and above all easily read, digested and understood romp and subsequent preparation for more involved and potentially increasingly dystopian fantasy novel models (two and a half stars, rounded up to a solid three stars, as I do enjoy and have appreciated young Mildred Hubble as a literary character, primarily due to the fact that she reminds me so much of myself at her age, and the troubles I experienced at school, not a witch academy of course, but simply Middle School, where being clumsy, being different, putting one's foot into one's mouth, having social connection issues all played a painful and annoyingly important role). (hide spoiler)]

Baba Yaga's Assistant

Loved this graphic novel, that Baba Yaga is enigmatic and not simply an evil witch, but someone who tests, but wish there was folkloric background on Baba Yaga provided.

(view spoiler)[Well and definitely, my inner child in particular has very much enjoyed Marika McCoola's (text) and Emily Carroll's (artwork) 2015 middle grade graphic novel (based on Slavic folklore) Baba Yaga's Assistant and how their combination of text and images manages to turn the enigmatic nature of Baba Yaga into an engaging both narrational and visual representation and discussion of current, of modern family life (including blended ones), of grief, loss, finding one’s place, of being brave and learning confidence, with me massively appreciating that both textually and visually, Baba Yaga is shown in Baba Yaga’s Assistant not simply as some evil and nasty witch, but like she is supposed to appear folkloricly, as an amoral force of nature both positive and negative, how she both helps and hinders and above all else is a test, is someone who provides quests, who rewards imagination, ingenuity and strength of character (and how McCoola’s text and Carroll’s pictures work very well and seamlessly together and show a sufficiently modern feeling tale in Baba Yaga’s Assistant that at the same time remains delightfully traditional, and how visually speaking, Baba Yaga looks a bit terrifying but at the same time also not horrifying and ridiculously creepy, that Emily Carroll’s art totally captures the enigma that is Baba Yaga and both reflects and wonderfully expands on Marika McCoola’s printed words).

So yes, in Baba Yaga’s Assistant, main protagonist Masha (a teenaged girl with a deceased mother and a very absent father who is about to marry a woman with a badly behaved and horribly socialised daughter prone to anger, physical aggression and who lashes out and bites Masha at their first meeting because she does not want to share her mother) decides to leave home to answer a want ad for an assistant to Baba Yaga, whom Masha’s recently dead grandmother (who mostly raised her granddaughter after Masha’s mother died and the father became emotionally distant and remote) had told her granddaughter many tales about and who supposedly even had personal experience with Baba Yaga herself (and that Baba Yaga’s Assistant is basically a fun comic book tale of how Masha passes and succeeds with Baba Yaga’s three main tests to become her assistant without actually doing anything horrible, anything evil, at the same time repairs her strained relationship with her father, and with me especially smiling at how instead of cooking children for Baba Yaga, she makes gingerbread and that Baba Yaga also points out that Masha has not only passed her initiation to become her assistant, but that her house on chicken legs really likes Masha as well and is a very good judge of character).

Now Baba Yaga’s Assistant does have some narrational holes so to speak, since the backstory regarding why Masha decides to try to become Baba Yaga’s assistant is presented both by Marika McCoola’s words and also by Emily Carroll’s illustrations rather sparsely, with both Masha’s mother’s death and also her father’s emotional withdrawal showing very little emotional resonance since we see so little of it presented on paper and how it develops. But to be honest, I also never really expected or even wanted nuanced and in-depth background information etc. in Baba Yaga’s Assistant either since missing backstories that are at best just alluded to, not fully explained and have the tendency to feel a bit like plot contrivances are in my opinion often part and parcel to traditional folklore. So yes and of course, how Baba Yaga’s Assistant especially at the beginning rather feels a bit choppy and abrupt does not at all bother or distract me, does not ever pull me out of the story, as I am more than willing to accept this as being part of traditional folklore and as such just something to accept regarding Marika McCoola’s words and Emily Carroll’s pictures for Baba Yaga’s Assistant (like when Masha learns that her father has been eating family dinners with his fiancée and daughter while leaving her home alone and thinking he was eating at the office), and that frankly, had McCoola’s text and Carroll’s illustrations been more in-depth regarding Masha’s backstory, for me, some of the folkloric magic of Baba Yaga’s Assistant would have been lost.

Therefore, a generally fun and delightful both textual and visual experience is Baba Yaga’s Assistant (nicely traditional folkloric in a modern setting), and yes, with my favourite characters being both Masha and also Baba Yaga’s house on chicken legs (and how both verbally and illustratively, Masha and the house are definitely shown as being kindred spirits, but that on a different level, Masha and Baba Yaga are obviously also linked and that I thus also kind of wish there could be a sequel to Baba Yaga’s Assistant telling of Masha’s life and career as Baba Yaga’s assistant). Five stars as a rating for my reading pleasure and joy regarding Baba Yaga’s Assistant, but grudgingly lowered to four stars, as while I appreciate the supplemental details provided by Emily Carroll regarding her illustrations, well and sorry, Marika McCoola should also be including notes on Baba Yaga and her status in Slavic folklore. (hide spoiler)]

My edition not, I think, the leveled/beginning reader. Just a hardcover picture-book, a little on the long side. Cute, better for the interested target audience, not super special. I appreciate the reviewer who compared it to Cinderella, but there is no ball or romance. But there is a very nice boy!

The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches

Hansel and Gretel

A great retelling, lovely illustrations and a wonderful author's note!!

(view spoiler)[Rika Lesser's retelling of the Brothers Grimm Hansel and Gretel (with Paul O. Zelinsky's glowing, expressive and indeed painterly illustrations) is what I humbly would call an absolutely perfect marriage of text and images. Often, retold fairy tales can be rather pale, barely adequate (if not even lifeless) reflections of their original, but Lesser's rendering is really and truly as close to and as authentic an adaptation of the Grimms' original text as possible without being a word-for-word translation, capturing ALL of the original, both thematically and stylistically. And Zelinsky's accompanying illustrations, aside from being an evocative, descriptive visual treat, they also seize and actually at times even seem to expand on the feel, the cadence, the geography and culture of Lesser's narrative, and therefore by extension the original Grimms' tale as well, visually reminding me of late 18th and early 19th century Germany, with authentic costumes depicted, as well as glowingly showing not only the beauty and mystery, but also the always inherent creepiness and potential danger of the German Wald of the German forest of culture and lore (not to mention that I also most heartily and appreciatively enjoy that Zelinisky's witch has NOT been depicted in Hansel and Gretel as some green-skinned, crooked nosed, frightening and visually abhorrent crone, but as an on the surface harmless and actually even quite pleasant appearing elderly grandmother-like woman, because in my opinion, much of the danger and horror of the Grimms' Hansel and Gretel story rests with the fact that the children, that Hansel and Gretel are at first all too easily duped by the evil witch simply because she both talks compassionately and looks fair and harmless on the outside, but is vile, disgusting, cannibalistic and evil on the inside). But for me personally, what has moved Hansel and Gretel from simply an appreciated five star fairy tale retelling to a cherished place on my favourites shelf is Rika Lesser's descriptive and informative storyteller's note, a detailed and academically sound, educational analysis which not only describes the genesis of the Hansel and Gretel tale in minute and meticulously researched detail, but thankfully and glory be, there are also no spelling mistakes with regard to the German language words used (which so often does seem to happen in and with both children's and adult literature and yes, often does tend to drive me to distraction). Highly recommended, and in my opinion, this is the hands-down BEST Hansel and Gretel adaptation in English I have read to date (and indeed most deserving of its Caldecott Honour Medal for Paul O. Zelinsky's illustrations). (hide spoiler)]

Hansel & Gretel & Zombies: A Graphic Novel


Really funny (zombie) graphic novel retelling and I love how at the end of the story, the witch is turned into zombie and joins Hansel and Gretel and their parents.

(view spoiler)[Although I have very fond memories of my mother and both of my grandmothers reading the Brothers Grimm Kinder- und Hausmärchen aloud to me (from around the age of three to six or seven when I started reading by and for myself), neither I nor also they ever did find Hänsel und Gretel (Hansel and Gretel in English) with the evil mother (or stepmother after the 1857 edition) and the even more vile and depraved witch that needed to be destroyed all that much to our liking. For yes indeed, the four of us pretty much jointly considered Hänsel und Gretel kind of horrifying, kind of strangely frightening and also pretty overtly misogynist, with a very distinct and brutally obvious general anti adult female bias and attitude present throughout Hänsel und Gretel (and that personally speaking, I therefore do very much prefer Engelbert Humperdinck's 1893 Hansel and Gretel opera, because while the witch is still inherently evil and horrid, Hansel and Gretel's parents truly care about their children, send them to the forest in order to find food and not to get rid of them and then also go searching for Hansel and Gretel when it becomes clear that the children have inadvertently been sent into danger).

And with the above in mind, the combination of Benjamin Harper's text and Fernando Caro's bright and colourfully lively accompanying illustrations for their 2016 graphic novel retelling Hansel & Gretel & Zombies really does make me hugely smile (and that I certainly have enjoyed Hansel & Gretel & Zombies much much more than the Brothers Grimm original story). For both textually and equally so illustratively Hansel & Gretel & Zombies succeeds in creating a fun story from the roots of the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale (and zombie based bien sûr but also not really ever creepy or chilling with regard to the undead, with ALL of the zombie tropes presented more as humours and not as frightening) and happily so equally without that what has always tended to bother and frustrate me regarding Hänsel und Gretel, with Hansel & Gretel & Zombies showing caring and loving parents (and like in the Engelbert Humperdinck opera in fact) and with an ending that sees the witch not only rehabilitated so to speak (well, actually being turned into a zombie by Gretel biting her arm) but also then joining Hansel, Gretel and their parents as a beloved family member (and that for me the ending of Hansel & Gretel & Zombies is thus utterly sweet, is absolutely, totally lovely and also points out that family can mean all kinds of different and varied individuals).

And of course, in Hansel & Gretel & Zombies, Hansel, Gretel and their parents are zombies living in a graveyard, and with everyone starving since it has been so long since they have had any fresh brains, the parents send Hansel and Gretel into the forest to find brains for everyone (albeit also worried for their children's safety) but with said plan going sadly awry when they encounter the witch, who wishes to eat the siblings and Gretel like in Hänsel und Gretel turning the tables on the witch but as already shown above with a different and much more positive and lighthearted outcome for all, and with Caro's art meshing very nicely with Harper's text, providing a successful combination of text and images for Hansel & Gretel & Zombies and a really fun both verbal and visual reading experience (penned with children, with young readers in mind but also suitable and entertaining for older readers into fun graphic novels based on traditional fairy tales).

Five stars for Hansel & Gretel & Zombies for me, as the tweaks, as the alterations Benjamin Harper textually and Fernando Carol pictorially provide to the original Brothers Grimm story in fact (and in my opinion) make Hansel & Gretel & Zombies a much more positively optimistic and also a much less uncomfortable tale (and yes, that the glossary, questions and the direct comparison between Hansel & Gretel & Zombies and Hänsel und Gretel at the back of Hansel & Gretel & Zombies are both appreciated and also like the absolute icing on an already most delicious cake). (hide spoiler)]

Hansel and Gretel: The Graphic Novel

Very standard Brothers Grimm graphic novel retelling (and I certainly would have preferred a tale where the mother/stepmother is redeemed a bit). Find the way Hansel and Gretel are illustrated a bit creepy, but appreciate that the witch looks fair at first (even though she is foul).

(view spoiler)[Well and truth be told, I have always much preferred retellings and adaptations of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm's Hänsel und Gretel (one of their most famous tales and number fifteen in Kinder- und Hausmärchen) where and unlike in the original story, the parents have inadvertently and with no malicious, nasty intentions sent Hansel and Gretel into the dark and dangerous forest (in order to forage for food) and even venture out to rescue their children from the witch when they realise this threat (such as for example in Engelbert Humperdinck's 1893 Hansel and Gretel opera).

Therefore and with this in mind, I am certainly just a wee bit disappointed how in Hansel and Gretel: The Graphic Novel (2008), Donald Lemke's text and Sean Dietrich's illustrations unfortunately do not attempt to in any manner even remotely redeem the "evil" stepmother and in fact present a both verbal and visual retelling that follows the 1857 version of the Brothers Grimm's Hänsel und Gretel pretty closely, although yes, I most definitely do appreciate how at the end of Hansel and Gretel: The Graphic Novel, Hansel and Gretel upon killing and escaping from the cannibalistic witch and returning to their father are shown by Lemke as not really being sure that they will ever be willing and able to trust their father again since he played right along with his wife, with the evil and now disappeared stepmother's plan to abandon the children in the woods (and not to mention that in the original, that in the 1812 version of Hänsel und Gretel, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm featured no evil stepmother but in fact an evil mother, all of which is nicely enlighteningly related by Donald Lemke in his excellent and informative author's note for Hansel and Gretel: The Graphic Novel).

Now and finally, with regard to Sean Dietrich's illustrations for Hansel and Gretel: The Graphic Novel, I must admit that I do tend to find his artwork both appealing and sometimes also not all that appealing. Yes, Dietrich's images for Hansel and Gretel: The Graphic Novel are colourful and also work pretty nicely with Lemke's narrative, with how he retells Hänsel und Gretel (and that I also aesthetically enjoy how Dietrich does not glorify visual violence with his artwork for Hansel and Gretel: The Graphic Novel, albeit that Hansel and Gretel's huge and bulbously staring eyes are definitely a bit visually off-putting for me). And indeed, I am certainly quite aesthetically in agreement with how Sean Dietrich depicts the witch in Hansel and Gretel: The Graphic Novel, that he has her looking not inherently evil, green skinned and physically horrifying but like someone Hansel and Gretel might well originally consider being genuinely pleasant and potentially helpful.

For yes, I have since my childhood often questioned why far too many illustrations of the Hansel and Gretel witch tend to look just horrid, visually ugly and hugely creepy and how Hansel and Gretel would even follow someone like that into the house and accept her hospitality, that a witch who looks fair but is internally foul makes a lot more sense for Hänsel und Gretel and its translations and adaptations. And indeed, and therefore, although I am not unilaterally pleased with the combination of Donald Lemke's text and Sean Dietrich's images, I have actually enjoyed Hansel and Gretel: The Graphic Novel considerably more than I thought I would and as such am going to be rating Hansel and Gretel: The Graphic Novel with a very high three stars, as all my reservations and criticisms are not really all that massive anyhow and that I certainly have found Hansel and Gretel: The Graphic Novel engaging, entertaining and as such also a pretty decent and fun both textual and visual retelling of Hänsel und Gretel. (hide spoiler)]

I gave nephew #2 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and he said "oh cool!" He still hasn't read Sorcerer's Stone I gave him last year. I tried explaining the books have more to the story than the movies. I hope he will read them. Next year he can look for his letter to Hogwarts by September 1! He's just a bit too young, like Hermione, to attend this year. My sister and I took the girls to the New England School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a low tech interactive event for kids.

I'm not a big fan if witches. I wish there was a kids version of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. That novel is VERY much for adults. Wicked: The Complete Book and Lyrics of the Broadway Musical is family friendly for the most part.

I liked Which Witch? which is very funny and gave that to niece #2 with no feedback whatsoever.

I enjoyed Wizard's Hall while waiting for the next Harry Potter book. It's simplistic and the hero is very much a Neville Longbottom. There are similar elements and some of the same elements as Harry Potter but they're pretty common and don't take much imagination to conjure up. Jo's world building in the Harry Potter series is second to none.

When my sister was a kid, she was The Blue-Nosed Witch for book character day at school but I'm not sure either of us read the book.