The Witch Family

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 The Witch Family, by Eleanor Estes, ill. by Edward Ardizzone

I picked up this titles from the discard table, largely because of the Ardizzone illustrations.  I like to collect Ardizzone and will grab whatever I can (same for Trina Schart Hyman).  And soon I happily grabbed a matching book, The Alley, so I'll read that soon too!  I like Estes just fine, but usually you only see The Hundred Dresses.  I'd never heard of The Witch Family.

This is an utterly charming story!  If you have a witch-loving little girl in your vicinity, get this story for her right away.  Amy and her best friend Clarissa love to sit together and draw pictures, and Amy has decreed that Old Witch must be banished.  She has been too wicked, and she must be banished to the Glass Hill, there to live all alone.  If she behaves herself, Amy will let her out for Halloween.  But Amy doesn't wish to be too tough on Old Witch, so she lets Little Witch Girl and Weeny Witch go to live with Old Witch...and Little Witch Girl needs a friend, the mermaid who lives under the Glass Hill...and there are lots of adventures to be had.

Very fun, read it aloud to the nearest 6-year-old in October.

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