Halloweena [Hardcover]

Miriam Glassman (Author), Victoria Roberts (Illustrator)

Book Description

When crotchety old witch Hepzibah is given a human child to take care of, she's horrified ("not a wart on her," poor thing).

And when, after years of careful training in witchery, the child, Halloweena, asks for human playmates, Hepzibah is aghast. Nevertheless, she wants to see Halloweena happy, and as she tries to find friends for her daughter, Halloweena proves she is indeed a good witch-in-training by conjuring up a way to keep them both happy.

A wickedly funny tale of adoption, acceptance, and self-sufficiency, for ALL seasons, with spellbinding illustrations by the New Yorker artist Victoria Roberts.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Parental responsibilities weigh on Hepzibah the witch, who gives up her "wild nights out with the ghouls" to tend Halloweena, the human baby thrust on the witch by her sister. Hepzibah builds Halloweena a three-pronged training broom and teaches her to "burn cupcakes to a crackly crisp," but refuses to let her befriend unmagical children. Inevitably, the girl gets her way-on her namesake holiday. Glassman (Box Top Dreams) enlivens her premise with witty wordplay and sneaky fairy-tale references; New Yorker cartoonist Roberts offsets the creepy-crawlies (e.g., fresh-baked "lady fingers" are the kind with knuckles) by depicting a matronly Hepzibah tidily presiding over a menagerie of cats, bats and reptiles. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

reSchool-Grade 3-For the witch Hepzibah, life in her tower eating burned cupcakes and keeping people away is paradise. Then her world is turned topsy-turvy with the arrival of a human baby, sent by her sister. Named Halloweena for the day she arrived, the little girl proves a challenge for the witch, who must give up "her wild nights out with the ghouls." Despite Hepzibah's best efforts, by the time she is six years old, little Halloweena wants to meet the children who trick-or-treat at her house each year. Hepzibah tries to cook up a few friends, but Halloweena comes up with just the magic to get all the companions she needs-a cornfield with "gleaming stalks" of candy "rising high into the sky." Roberts's winsome pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations are full of witchy details like bat pajamas, the broom equivalent of a tricycle, and a cobweb canopy on the crib. Even the endpapers have a delightful chorus line of beasties in witches' hats. Use this with Caralyn and Mark Buehner's A Job for Wittilda (Dial, 1993; o.p.) and one of Tomie dePaola's "Strega Nona" books (Putnam) for a merry witch program.
Bina Williams, Bridgeport Public Library, CT
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum; 1 edition (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068982825X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689828256
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,345,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars May Be Too Subtle For Young Readers, October 6, 2002

By 

Terrie (Little Chute, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Halloweena (Hardcover)

This is a cute book with clever, engaging text and detailed cartoonish illustrations that are full of the madcap antics of witch Hepzibah and Halloweena, her adopted human baby girl. When Hebzibah's sister Zillah drops the baby off on her, she tries everything to raise a respectable witchling and does pretty well. I liked this book a lot and found most of the humor to be fun and original. There is one page with severed arms and another where Hepzibah is baking Lady Fingers and (Yuk!) they actually ARE lady fingers. I could have done without these, but the homelife of Hepzibah and Halloweena is really charming in a wacky, witchy sort of way. I would say ages 10 and up will enjoy this book's humor. The text is full of tongue-in-cheek word play. There's a nice message about accepting people as they are and unconditional love. The ending is sweet. I think younger kids will miss some of the subtle humor and there are better Halloween stories for young kids, but for a slightly older readership, it's fresh and funny.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanted Children, October 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Halloweena (Hardcover)

I had the pleasure of seeing Victoria Roberts read "Halloweena" (in the presence of the author) to a group of children, many of whom I thought would be too young to appreciate it. The children were enchanted, one and all--and the parents were, too. Whatever the kids may have missed didn't bother them at all.

As Ms. Glassman said, this is a book about parenting, and it is a visual and narrative delight.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A REAL TREAT FOR HALLOWEEN, October 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Halloweena (Hardcover)

I came across this book and fell in love with the witty halloween humor and the cunning illustrations. Kids five and up will adore the fairy tale references. It's become a nightly bedtime story in our house! Each time, my son and I are able to find a new joke or detail in the zany illustrations to enjoy and laugh over. A wonderful story for parents and kids to share.