***The Witch's Children

by Ursula Jones

Illustrated by Russell Ayto

Reviewed September 30, 2003.
Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2003.  Originally published in Great Britain in 2001.  32 pages.
Available in hardcover on Amazon.com for $11.87.
Available at Sembach Library (E JON).

The Witch’s Children go to the park and the animals expect trouble.  Sure enough, when Gemma loses her boat in the pond, the Eldest turns her into a frog so she can go get it.

When she can’t change her back, the Middle One turns the trees into a palace, the pigeons into footmen, the squirrels into soldiers, the ice-cream truck into a golden coach, and the ice-cream lady into a fair princess.  When the princess kisses the frog, she turns back into a human.  The only problem is that now Gemma is a handsome prince.

When neither the Eldest nor the Middle One can fix things, the Little One uses the one piece of magic she knows to set things right—She calls her Mommy.

The cartoon-like pictures reminded me of Lane Smith’s drawings and added fun to this thoroughly modern fairy tale.

Copyright © 2003 Sondra Eklund.  All rights reserved.

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