Witch & Wombat

Wilma, a child witch, wakes up excited. Today, she will become a complete witch. She goes to receive her cat to start her magic training. She gets to the pet shop, but they are all out of cats and only have a wombat. So begins a whimsical story of Wilma and her wombat, and as readers soon learn, wombats are so unlike cats. They do not play with yarn, they produce cube-shaped poop, they have small tails, and they can dig tunnels up to 650 feet long. They will not perch on the cauldron, as Wilma needs, and her wombat is afraid of flying on a broomstick. She cries out in distress and wishes he were a cat—and he disappears. When she discovers that the wombat is reading up on how to become a cat, Wilma is in awe, and changes her mind about what kind of witch she will be. This quirky picture book lives beyond any seasonal use. The font is set up in a graphic novel—type format, which may be small for some younger readers. VERDICT With a valuable lesson to accept others as they are, this story is great for any children's collection, any time of year.—Annmarie Braithwaite