COLD WATER WITCH
by Yannick Murphy & illustrated by Tom Lintern
The sinister Cold Water Witch tries to lure a little girl to her frozen realm in this frosty fairy tale. On the coldest night of the year, the Cold Water Witch materializes in the girl’s bedroom, inviting her to come “where the waters run cold” and “the world is covered in snow.” The Witch promises the girl she will be a princess, wear a crown of ice and skate in a winter wonderland—but she’s really looking for a victim to take her place in a winter nightmare. When the girl refuses her offer, the Cold Water Witch tricks her and orders her into the freezer. However, the quick-witted girl manages to save them both with a trick of her own. Lintern’s chilly colored-pencil illustrations in lavender blues and icy whites create the appropriate hoary atmosphere while the phantasmal Cold Water Witch with her icicle fingers and hair of snow triggers shivers to all but the resolute heroine. Initially reminiscent of Andersen’s frigid Snow Queen, this Cold Water Witch melts with kindness. (Picture book. 4-7)