<p>All children who tremble at the thought of witches — allay your fears! — For as of Walpurgis Night last, the bad witches have been rendered powerless and only one good little witch remains. How this came to be is the content of a delightful book to be read in episodes or at one happy sitting. The little witch was given a year by the Witches' Council to master the Book of Witchcraft. With her trusted companion, Abraxas the raven, she learns to cast all the conventional spells, but puts her knowledge to real use in helping people and animals in distress. There was the poor little flower seller whose products suddenly filled the market place with their delicious odor, the cruel horse driver who soon learned the feel of a whip, the ox who was miraculously saved from roasting, the cold chestnut man who thawed out and many others on whom the little witch cast her spells. Yet it was these very good deeds that incurred the wrath of the Council. How the little witch casts her most powerful spell will leave readers thoroughly satisfied and young bedtime listeners ready for only pleasant dreams. Halloween special.</p>
Pub Date: Oct. 8, 1961
ISBN: 978-1-59017-934-5
Page Count: 134
Publisher: New York Review Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1961
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sophie is caught between a powerful witch and wizard who are terrorizing the magical land of Ingary. Living a humdrum life as a hatter till the malicious Witch of the Waste casts a spell turning her into an old woman, Sophie seeks refuge as cleaning woman to Wizard Howl (although he's rumored to eat the hearts of young girls) in his castle, which moves at will about the countryside. Actually, Howl is a brash young man whose only vice is womanizing. He is a gifted wizard but the despair of his inept apprentice and of Calcifer, a humorously petulant fire demon, because of such human faults as messiness and spending too long in the bath. As in her memorable Archer's Goon, Jones has a plethora of characters who are seldom what they seem and an intricate plot which may dazzle with its complexity or delight by the hilarious common-sense consequences of its preposterous premises. Sophie is a dauntless heroine; when she regains her youth and wins Howl, the odds are this is only the beginning of a tempestuous romance. Great fun.
Pub Date: April 14, 1986
ISBN: 0061478784
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1986
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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Though the lessons weigh more heavily than in The One and Only Ivan, a potential disappointment to its fans, the story is...
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Applegate tackles homelessness in her first novel since 2013 Newbery winner The One and Only Ivan.
Hunger is a constant for soon-to-be fifth-grader Jackson and his family, and the accompanying dizziness may be why his imaginary friend is back. A giant cat named Crenshaw first appeared after Jackson finished first grade, when his parents moved the family into their minivan for several months. Now they’re facing eviction again, and Jackson’s afraid that he won’t be going to school next year with his friend Marisol. When Crenshaw shows up on a surfboard, Jackson, an aspiring scientist who likes facts, wonders whether Crenshaw is real or a figment of his imagination. Jackson’s first-person narrative moves from the present day, when he wishes that his parents understood that he’s old enough to hear the truth about the family’s finances, to the first time they were homeless and back to the present. The structure allows readers access to the slow buildup of Jackson’s panic and his need for a friend and stability in his life. Crenshaw tells Jackson that “Imaginary friends don’t come of their own volition. We are invited. We stay as long as we’re needed.” The cat’s voice, with its adult tone, is the conduit for the novel’s lessons: “You need to tell the truth, my friend….To the person who matters most of all.”
Though the lessons weigh more heavily than in The One and Only Ivan, a potential disappointment to its fans, the story is nevertheless a somberly affecting one . (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-04323-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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