Elwood and the Witch

Nicholas Heller is a master of the offbeat, rib-tickling picture book. Ogres! Ogres! Ogres!: A Feasting Frenzy from A to Z, the sequel to his popular Goblins in Green, is no exception. Mr. Heller is also the author of The Giant, This Little Piggy, Woody, A Book for Woody, and Peas. He and his wife and children live in Maine.

Jos. A. Smith has illustrated many popular picture books, including Goblins in Green. His signature artwork can also be seen in A Creepy Countdown by Charlotte Huck, Clay Boy by Mirra Ginsburg, and Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman. He is the author of a book on drawing, The Pen and ink Book (published by Watson-Guptill). Mr. Smith is a faculty member at Pratt Institute and lives in New York City.

PreSchool-Grade 3-When Elwood discovers an old broom in the woods on a moonlit night, he picks it up, thinking to find some use for it. Almost immediately, it begins to tremble and then launches into the sky. Clinging on for dear life, the pig quickly surmises that the broom must belong to a witch, and sure enough, its irate owner soon emerges from the forest, screaming, "Thief!" Elwood tries to explain that he doesn't know how to land, but the angry witch refuses to listen and blasts him with a series of poorly aimed spells. After mistakenly turning a bat into a trout and a cloud into a toad, she misses again and transforms the moon into a giant bumblebee. Like an adult intervening between squabbling children, the bee comes down to earth to sort out the conflict and restore order. Although the story moves at a quick clip, Heller balances the action with interesting details and descriptive language. Children will be drawn to the witch, who acts without thinking, hides when she realizes she's in trouble, and sticks stubbornly to her point of view. Done with gouache-and-watercolor paints and pencils, Smith's atmospheric paintings underscore the humor of the text. In her moon-and-stars cape and baggy dress, shooting lightning-bolt spells from her fingertips, the round-figured witch is like an uncontrollable ball of energy. A fun choice for slightly scary storytimes.
Joy Fleishhacker, formerly at School Library Journal
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