I'm Casting a Spell!: Meet a Fairy-Tale Witch

Monster Buddies

by Lisa Bullard, Diego Díaz (Illustrator)

Meet Hex. She's a fairy-tale witch! Hex has magic powers. She likes to fly around and play tricks on people. But don't worry. Hex is not real. She's one of the monsters you meet in stories. She just wants to tell you about fairy-tale witches. Learn how a witch scares villagers. Meet different kinds of witches around the world. And find out where witch tales come from. You'll have a creepy time with this monster buddy!

Genres: Picture Books

24 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 2014

About the author

Lisa Bullard is the award-winning author of more than sixty books for children, including the middle grade mystery Turn Left at the Cow. She is also the author of the how-to guide Get Started in Writing for Children. Her books for younger readers include picture books and nonfiction titles such as Trick-or-Treat on Milton Street and You Can Write a Story: A Story-Writing Recipe for Kids. Her books have won several honors, including a Children’s Choice Award, two Teacher’s Choice Awards, a Science Books & Films’ Best Books listing, a National Parenting Publications Children's Resources Silver Award, and a Storytelling World Awards Honor Title. For over fifteen years, Lisa has taught writing classes for adults and young people at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis and in a variety of other settings. Lisa is a graduate of the University of Denver’s Publishing Institute.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Lisa Bullard and illustrator Diego Diaz tackle the topic of fairy-tale witches in this entry in Millbrook Press's Monster Buddies series, which explores the role of various mythological creatures in classic stories. Establishing that witches won't be found "outside of make believe," the book goes on to discuss the appearance of witches, their habits—flying on broomsticks, cooking children—and some famous witches from around the world. These include the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , hyena-riding witches from Africa, and the famous Baba Yaga, of Russian lore. A brief discussion of the possible origin of the witch figure, in the form of early, prehistoric healers and herbalists, is followed by the end matter, including a writing prompt for youngsters, a glossary, a brief list of further resources, and an index...

I'm Casting a Spell!: Meet a Fairy-Tale Witch struck me as being very similar, in both purpose and structure, to author Eric Braun and illustrator Robert Squier's The Truth About Witches . Both are part of a larger picture book series intended to introduce various mythical creatures that appear in the pages of classic storybooks— The Truth About Witches is part of the Fairy Tale Superstars series—and both over a very rudimentary introduction to their chosen subject. Namely: the witches of fairy-tale. I'm not sure either is entirely satisfactory, but then, I am something of a devotee of witchy fare, so it stands to reason that such introductory books wouldn't quite satisfy me. The only serious critiques I would make of this one, was its assertion that witches had green skin, something that is not at all uniform in all stories and traditions, and the fact that the author never specified which African cultures had hyena-riding witches. Leaving those issues aside, I think young readers will enjoy this one, both for the basic witchy facts, and for Diaz's vibrantly colorful artwork, which often leaps off the page.

[Mely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book in the Monster Buddies series. This one tells us how the legend of the fairy tale witch came to be. Always interesting to learn about legends in other countries as well. Great Halloween read.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

because it was about a witch and abut myths and that they aren't real.

[Neveen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The funniest introduction about witches.