Heidi Heckelbeck has a secret is a fun children’s fantasy novel about Heidi, a secret witch. Heidi and her younger brother Henry have been homeschooled their entire lives. This year, their parents have decided to send them to real school, Brewster elementary school. Heidi is in the second grade and Henry is in kindergarten. Heidi is very skeptical of school, but Henry is really excited. At school, Heidi is befriended by Lucy Lancaster, and bullied by mean girl, Melanie Maplethorpe. After a first day full of altercations, like the art room and play practice, Heidi decides that she has had enough. At home, when no one is around, Heidi goes under her bed and pulls out a keepsake box. Inside the keepsake box is a golden medallion with a huge W engraved on the front. Also in the keepsake box is a black leather book titled, The Witches of Westwick. Armed with her medallion and book of spells, Heidi is ready to get her revenge.
Heidi Heckelbeck has a secret is the first book in this new children’s witch series. The author of this series, Wanda Coven, does a wonderful job creating this story. The diction in this story lacks complexity, which makes it an ideal read for beginner readers, and reluctant readers. The words are spaced neatly and legibly on the page, making it easier to read. In addition to that, the paragraphs in this story are relatively small. When paragraphs are chunked like this, it reduces reader’s fatigue. This chapter book was illustrated by Priscilla Burris, who has illustrated numerous books and materials for teachers, students, and parents. The illustrations in this book are simple and serve to decorate the text. They are not too overwhelming and have a cartoon-ish look about them. Almost every page in this book has an illustration which is very helpful for beginner readers, reluctant readers, and visual learners. Some pages are entirely made up of illustrations. These picture breaks are ideal for readers who may get fatigued after prolonged reading.
This fantasy novel about witches is aimed at children from kindergarten to second grade. I believe that is a fairly accurate estimate. The book was a quick and extremely easy read. It is loaded with sight words and lower intensity vocabulary, so virtually any child can read it independently. The content in this book is age appropriate and advanced comprehension skills are not required. What I appreciate the most about this book is the fact that it comes in a series. Personally, I love book series. I have read the Twilight series, the Pretty Little Liars series, Ramona Quimby, Junie B. Jones, etc. Reading books that comes in series is extremely beneficial when it comes to children. The more they read, the more they know, and can explore. This is a relatively new series, it was published in 2012. I have seen it in Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, the library and on Google Play. This book series is very affordable about $5 each book. That is a bargain for parents who would like to purchase books for their young readers.