A Very Brave Witch

K-Gr 2 -A friendly young witch describes what she likes most about Halloween. She explains that although most of her kind - -&are afraid of humans, - she has done research and concluded that people are not that bad. She plans to visit them this Halloween night as they -trick a tree. - After boarding her broom, she zooms in a circle, becomes dizzy, and crashes near some trick-or-treaters. She soon discovers that a brave witch and a brave human girl dressed as a witch are not so very different. As the book ends, the two new friends share a moonlit broomstick ride. The chatty text appears in dialogue balloons. Done in black ink and watercolor, the cartoon artwork captures the holiday -s spirit with crisp fall colors and amusing details. Busy witches decorate their creepy-looking mansion by hanging skeletons, un-caging bats, and sprinkling spiders out the windows. In the -Sub-Basement Costume Unit, - a seamstress is hard at work sewing a monster paw; costumes line the walls (Frankenstein, a space creature, etc.); and politician masks share space with a jar full of eyeballs. Both children -one green and one not -are appealing, and the witch -s orange cat, with its expressive features, adds to the fun. A humorous, not-scary-at-all read-aloud." -Wanda Meyers-Hines, Ridgecrest Elementary School, Huntsville, AL"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

You might not believe this, but most witches are afraid of humans," a witch girl confides. As her encyclopedic "Big Book of Humans" indicates, "Humans aren't green like us," and they often dislike flying. Consequently, older witches tremble when she takes a Halloween risk and offers a human girl a broom ride. McGhee and Bliss (previously paired for "Countdown to Kindergarten") take a witty, sideways approach to multicultural crossover; the parental demographic might chuckle at headstones labeled Addams and Joey Ramone. Bliss channels Charles M. Schulz in his voice-bubble dialogue and expressive drawings of children with circular heads, simple mouths and dot-eyes with parentheses-shaped eyelids. Like Michael Rex's "Brooms Are for Flying!" and David Costello's "Here They Come!", this tale demystifies the amiable protagonist and her non-green counterpart alike. Ages 4-8. "(Aug.)"

Copyright 2006 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.