Fun for witches in training and aspiring pet owners alike.
When a young witch acquires an egg that conceals a “mystery pet,” she impatiently uses her magic to attempt to hatch it.
Light-skinned, green-haired Evelyn Witch is sure that something’s missing in her life. But her potions are “perfectly bubbling,” and her hair is “perfectly messy.” What could it be? On a trip to town, she wanders by the pet store and realizes she needs a companion. The text—previously simple sentences—now adds jaunty rhyme and rhythm to describe creatures ranging from “bats, and rats, and plump pink cats” to “griffins, and spiders, and fish who were biters.” Counting her change, Evelyn has only enough for the cheapest item, the mystery pet: a cardboard box containing a plain white egg. What animal might it conceal? And will it ever emerge? Playful text paired with vignettes of the frustrated Evelyn watching over the egg make the young witch’s displeasure clear: Waiting is hard! Next stop: the library, for a book of creature-hatching magic. Evelyn treks over mountains, sails seas, and explores a cave, casting delightfully rhyming spells—to no avail. But after a heartwarming epiphany—and a lesson in the value of patience—Evelyn and readers alike are rewarded with a perfect result. Comical, scribbly art—a creative mix of panels and full-page spreads—complements the text, whose extensive vocabulary is couched in conversational syntax; Evelyn’s frequent exclamation of “Sniveling snails!” is a particular delight.
Fun for witches in training and aspiring pet owners alike. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781250804211
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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