Alice and Greta: A Tale of Two Witches [Hardcover]

Steven J. Simmons (Author), Cyd Moore (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Alice is a good witch. And Greta . . . well, Greta and trouble are never far apart. Alice spends her time helping others by weaving her enchanting spells. All Greta does is wreak havoc. But when a forgotten spell comes back to haunt her, Greta's stuck learning something she should have learned long ago.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While little witch Alice uses her powers for good, Greta has yet to learn "the brewmerang principle": that whatever you brew comes back to you. Ages 4-8. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2?Alice and Greta are two young witches attending Miss Mildew's School of Magic. Alice uses her magic for positive results, while Greta, in contrast, plays tricks that land her in trouble. That habit causes Greta to miss an important lesson?the "Brewmerang Principle"?"Whatever you chant,/Whatever you brew,/Sooner or later/Comes back to you!" After graduation, Alice uses her powers to rescue stranded sailboats and find lost puppies, while Greta uses them to spread confusion. Her piece de resistance involves covering some children with melted marshmallows. At first delighted, the youngsters become scared when they realize they're stuck. Alice's attempt to rescue them lands her in the goo as well. However, she paid attention to the Brewmerang Principle, and is able to reverse the spell, leaving Greta to suffer the results of her misdeeds. As with the melted marshmallows, a little bit of moralism would have gone a long way in this book. Instead readers are nearly suffocated with sweet stuff, which prevents true characterization or plot development. Overly generous use of pink (Alice) and green (Greta) in the illustrations goes hand-in-heavy-hand with the pedantic tone of the text.?Tana Elias, Meadowridge Branch Library, Madison, WI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881069744
• ISBN-13: 978-0881069747
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,004,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cyd Moore was born in Georgia but has lived in Michigan for many years. After graduating from the University of Georgia, she worked as a graphic designer for television, advertising, and newspaper publishing. You might also have seen her art on McDonald's Happy Meal boxes, games, and magazines. But her real passion is illustrating children's books and so far, she has over 40 published titles, including the best selling I LOVE YOU STINKY FACE series. WILLOW was chosen by Oprah's Book Club and the creative little girl returns in the new sequel, WILLOW AND THE SNOW DAY DANCE.

Cyd is a dynamic speaker and always a favorite at conferences, libraries and schools. This southern belle inspires gasps and giggles, creative thinking, and a love of story and art. She relates to kids on their level, so they are laughing and learning and getting inspired to write and draw and try almost anything! She has the ability to handle a large crowd and engages all ages--high school art students to even the most wiggly 'worms' in kindergarten are spellbound!

"My everyday job is drawing picture books. But, I'm passionate about encouraging kids to love reading & learning, to be playful hard workers, and to believe big things can happen. Look at me--a little girl raised in a crooked farmhouse in the woods of south Georgia grew up to have a tall stack of books with her name on the covers! How great is that!"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What goes around, comes around, August 15, 2000

By 

K. Bennett (Rolla, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alice and Greta: A Tale of Two Witches (Hardcover)

Besides living on the same mountain top, Alice and Greta have a lot in common. They are both witches. They both went to the Miss Mildred Mildew's School of Magic and learned the same spells. But that's where the similarities end. Alice uses her magic for good; Greta prefers to make trouble (but then, what can you expect from someone who starts the day off with a cup of pond slime every morning?).

Greta wasn't paying attention when Miss Mildew taught her pupils the most important lesson of all -- "The Brewmerang Principle: Whatever you chant, Whatever you brew, Sooner or later Comes back to you!" So while Alice helps a sailboat stranded on a sandbar; Greta uses the same spell to swamp a sand castle and sweep it out to sea. After Alice makes a lost puppy reappear; Greta uses the same spell to make all the balls at a soccer tournament disappear.

One day Greta dumps a load of sticky slimy marshmallow goo on some children in a playground. Before Alice can help them, Greta slimes her, too. Then Alice remembers the Brewmerang Principle, and invokes its application on Greta. Greta gets a taste of every nasty thing she's ever done.

The story could end there, but it doesn't. It ends with Greta brushing up on the Brewmerang Principle. Maybe there's hope for her yet.

Cyd Moore's beautiful illustrations add humorous touches to this charming tale. During flying lessons, Alice straddles her broom in proper witchy fashion, while Greta hangs upside down by her knees on hers. Alice chants her chants in a lotus position; Greta prefers to stand on her head. Best of all, on graduation day, all the new witches from Miss Mildred's have mortar board pointy hats, complete with tassels.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun book with a great moral, March 26, 2005

By 

Paige Anderson "Brit lit teacher and history ... (Pensacola, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alice and Greta: A Tale of Two Witches (Hardcover)

Alice and Greta arrived serendipitously the same day that my son got in trouble at school and therefore lost privileges at home. Until we read this book together, he was having a problem understanding why talking too much at school meant he lost TV at home. Once he learned "The Brewmerang Principle" from the book, however, he got it. Now, he begins each day stating, "I'm going to be like Alice and do good things for people so that good things happen to me. I'm NOT going to be like that bad Greta." In addition to the great moral, the illustrations are very attractive, and kids who are interested in magic will love the story just for that aspect. Highly recommended for young readers.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wiches and magic., May 18, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Alice and Greta: A Tale of Two Witches (Hardcover)

Magic and wizardry are just some of the thing's you'll find in the book called Alice and Greta by Steven J.Simmons. This story is about Alice who is a wich and does nice thing's for people and girl named Greta who is also a wich and does mean thing's to people.
So if you like magic, you'll like this book. I like this book because everything that Greta did to people comes back to her in the end. So the lesson you learn is it doesn't matter what you do to people it will always comes back to you.