In this story, seven sweet children are transformed by an evil witch into specific types of food. “The inherent drama of the story, combined with the haunting images the art provides, gives the picture book a timeless quality.”--Booklist
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Paintings rich in atmosphere highlight this delectable tale of a witch's unusual dietary cravings and a mother's ingenious revenge. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3 This original story reads like a pure folktale. The poor mother of seven children, each named for a day of the week, goes off to market promising to return with individual gifts that each child has requested and admonishing them to lock the door to strangers and not to touch the fire. The gullible children are tricked into disobeying their mother by the witch, Heckedy Peg, who turns them all into various kinds of food. The mother can rescue her children only by guessing which child is the fish, the roast rib, the bread, etc., a trick she neatly performs by matching each kind of food with the gift that each child had requested (Monday asked for butter, so Monday is the bread, etc.). This story, deep and rich with folk wisdom, is stunningly illustrated with Don Wood's luminous paintings. He shows the countryside as a true fairy tale settingthe half-timbered village, thatched roof cottages, haymakers in the field, and the witch's hut in dark, dank woods. With variety of color and line he enhances every nuance of the text, from the individuality of the children and the stalwart mother to the unrelenting evil of the witch. A tour de force in every way. Connie C. Rockman, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, Conn.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
AUDREY WOOD is the much-loved author of more than thirty books for children, including the bestselling The Napping House, Piggies, Heckedy Peg, and most recently, Piggy Pie Po, which she collaborated on with her husband, Don Wood.
She lives in Hawaii.
My first memories are of Sarasota, Florida in the winter quarters of the Ringling Brothers' Circus. I was one year old and remember it vividly. My father, an art student, was making extra income by repainting circus murals.
The people in the circus were my friends. I was bounced on the knee of the tallest man in the world and rocked in the arms of the fat lady who could not stand up. My first baby-sitters were a family of little people who lived in a trailer next to ours. They tAudrey2old me stories about the animals they worked with: Chi Chi the Chimpanzee, an elephant named Elder, and Gargantua the Gorilla.
My mother says I was a fast learner, always ahead of my age. My father taught me to swim before I could walk. I walked at seven months and climbed over a seven foot chain link fence when I was one year old. Everyone in the circus thought I was going to be a trapeze artist.
When I was two, I traveled with my parents to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where they studied art. Spanish became my second language. Because my mother read to me every day, I fell in love with books and was reading by age three.
My parents had two more girls, which made me the oldest sister. All of us were trained in the arts: music, dance, painting, and drama. We had a miniature stage in our basement, complete with light-bulb floodlights and a dusty red velvet curtain. Admission for the plays we produced was a bargain--twenty-five cents.
When I was in the first grade, I wanted to grow up to be an artist like my father. Then, in the fourth grade, I decided I'd like to be a children's book author. As an adult who writes and illustrates children's books, I have realized both my childhood ambitions.
I got in trouble in school once for crossing out my favorite author's name and putting in mine--Audrey Brewer instead of Dr. Seuss!
My great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all professional artists. Since I am also a professional artist, there are four consecutive generations of artists in our family. However, I am the only female artist.
On our honeymoon, I read my new husband Don Wood the classic children's book entitled At the Back of the North Wind. Seven years later, we teamed up to create our first picture book together.
When our son Bruce Robert was two years old, I began to read picture books to him. He helped to remind me of my childhood ambitions. That's when I began to write children's books seriously.
www.Audreywood.com
She lives in Hawaii.
My first memories are of Sarasota, Florida in the winter quarters of the Ringling Brothers' Circus. I was one year old and remember it vividly. My father, an art student, was making extra income by repainting circus murals.
The people in the circus were my friends. I was bounced on the knee of the tallest man in the world and rocked in the arms of the fat lady who could not stand up. My first baby-sitters were a family of little people who lived in a trailer next to ours. They tAudrey2old me stories about the animals they worked with: Chi Chi the Chimpanzee, an elephant named Elder, and Gargantua the Gorilla.
My mother says I was a fast learner, always ahead of my age. My father taught me to swim before I could walk. I walked at seven months and climbed over a seven foot chain link fence when I was one year old. Everyone in the circus thought I was going to be a trapeze artist.
When I was two, I traveled with my parents to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where they studied art. Spanish became my second language. Because my mother read to me every day, I fell in love with books and was reading by age three.
My parents had two more girls, which made me the oldest sister. All of us were trained in the arts: music, dance, painting, and drama. We had a miniature stage in our basement, complete with light-bulb floodlights and a dusty red velvet curtain. Admission for the plays we produced was a bargain--twenty-five cents.
When I was in the first grade, I wanted to grow up to be an artist like my father. Then, in the fourth grade, I decided I'd like to be a children's book author. As an adult who writes and illustrates children's books, I have realized both my childhood ambitions.
I got in trouble in school once for crossing out my favorite author's name and putting in mine--Audrey Brewer instead of Dr. Seuss!
My great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all professional artists. Since I am also a professional artist, there are four consecutive generations of artists in our family. However, I am the only female artist.
On our honeymoon, I read my new husband Don Wood the classic children's book entitled At the Back of the North Wind. Seven years later, we teamed up to create our first picture book together.
When our son Bruce Robert was two years old, I began to read picture books to him. He helped to remind me of my childhood ambitions. That's when I began to write children's books seriously.
www.Audreywood.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a wonderful puzzle for children,
By b mcb "bmcbook" (Tennessee, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Heckedy Peg (Hardcover)
I've read this book to a few students at a time. I always pause in the middle of it -- at the point where the witch challenges the mother to figure out which item is her child. On my table is a china pitcher, a box of salt, a tub of butter, a knife, and three other items. Then I challenge the children to figure out which item should go where on the picture. Their eyes gleam when they understand and solve the puzzle themselves. Afterwards, it is fun to make pudding!
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Terrifying to my daughter at age 4!,
By
This review is from: Heckedy Peg (Hardcover)
My eldest was terrified by this book when she was 4- I don't blame her!- but started to like it a couple of years later. The storyline is dark as are the illustrations, but they're also well rendered.There are many obvious messages in the story- the mother leaves the children alone with explicit directions, which they disregard to their detriment! The witch is portrayed as the post-Pagan era Evil Witch, and not a positive Healing Witch. Even worse, she wants to eat the children. Yikes! The Mother though, is able to Save Her Children because she loves and understands them well and pays attention to their needs. My daughter's fears stemmed largely (I believe) from her fear of bad things happening to young children. If your child feels that way, this might be a scary book for her. My younger daughter never disliked the story though, but she has a different kind of analytical mind and probably didnt' suspend reality to allow the children to turn to food. :-)
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A happy reader,
By A Customer
This review is from: Heckedy Peg (Hardcover)
I enjoyed reading this story to my class. My class still get excited every time I read this story to them. I now read this story to other classes and still get amazed at the look on their faces when they see the pictures and when I sound like the witch in the story, My class especially enjoys the children names, Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday,Saturday,Sunday. They always want to say it along with me. I have bought all of Audrey and Don Wood's books. I would love to meet them and tell them thank you for writing a wonderful and inspiring book for us all.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Down the dusty roads and far away, a poor mother once lived with her seven children named Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Heckedy Peg New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Down the dusty roads and far away, a poor mother once lived with her seven children named Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Heckedy Peg New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
32
books
cite this book:
See all 32 books citing this book
- Directing the Writing Workshop: An Elementary Teacher's Handbook by Lynn Beverly on 6 pages
- An Author a Month (for Nickels): by Sharron L. McElmeel on 4 pages
- Interpreting Literature With Children (Literacy Teaching Series) by Shelby A. Wolf on page 20, page 186, and Back Matter
- Literature of Delight: A Critical Guide to Humorous Books for Children by Kimerly Olson Fakih on page 118, page 125, and page 141
- The Beanstalk and Beyond: Developing Critical Thinking Through Fairy Tales by Joan Wolf in Front Matter, page 45, and Back Matter
See all 32 books citing this book
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