Customer Reviews

The Little Leftover Witch

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I read this book when I was a small girl and never forgot this charming story although I did forget the title. After searching for years through every children's witch book I found it by chance just sitting on a shelf in the library I work at. I was so happy to relive this wonderful childhood memory of Felina (Lucinda) and the Doon family.

Sometimes when you revisit a childhood favorite you discover that much of what made it wonderful is "between the lines" and not there at all, just images you invested in it. But The Little Leftover Witch is really just as wonderful, funny, vivid and haunting as I thought at the time.

This was my FAVORITE book when I was seven, and took it just as a literal fairytale about what would happen if a little witch girl got left on a tree outside a human family's window on Halloween. At the time I much preferred mischievous Felina to sweet Lucinda. It's surprisng to read it again at this distance and see just how perfectly Laughlin captured the behavior of small girls without either fudging on their maturity or condescending to them!

I also found myself entirely in love with the world of the Doons. In fact, I reread the book as soon as I finished. This family is nice-- and yet, still believable. Mrs. Doon loses her temper (well, only after severe provocation when Felina brings the cat to the supermarket!)... and there are family traditions and little bits of individuality everywhere.

What I missed, reading this as a child, was the metaphor for adoption-- and the metaphor of how love can truly change a person. In the world of the Doon's, Felina's witchiness is a fact-- not a delusion-- and everyone in the town buys into it. But in the hands of the adult reader, Felina's witchiness is every lonely child's feeling of not belonging. No wonder all kinds of children love this book! It has everything-- terrific writing (brief enough for early-ish readers), memorable characters, humor, adventure-- and a terrific depiction of the power of love.

My mother-in-law, a former teacher, passed along her copy to us two years ago. We are just about to begin reading it for the third time as part of our autumn traditions. A great example of what unconditional love can do! Age appropriate from about four on, although I had a young three-year-old who liked to listen to it as well. Our paperback copy has pictures on almost every turn of the page.

This book brings back warm family memories of fall and mother's willingness to help us develope our own imagination. This book is about family and finding someone to love you even if you are a "Little Leftover Witch."

When I was 7 years old, I found the Little Leftover Witch at my local public library. I took it out so many times that the librarians began to hide it from me so that others could take it out. As I got older, I always looked for it on the shelf to make sure it was still there and to check the signature card with my name on it over and over again. When I became a mother, I went back to the library to see if it was still there. I was flooded with memories when I found it. I asked if I could purchase the book (there wasn't an Amazon.com yet)but was told that it could not be sold. I was sad but knew I would be able to find it when my daughter became old enough to read. A few years later I received a call from that library asking me if I was still interested in owning the book. They were planning to discard it because it was very worn (all the more better since I was the one who caused the wear). My daughter loves the Little Leftover Witch and we read it together every fall even though she is now 13. This is a wonderful book about love and family and the beauty of the book lies in its simplicity.

The Little Leftover Witch is a great story, especially at bedtime. When we were younger, my little sister and I would read it together at bedtime. She absolutely loved it and so did I. We must have read it at least 10 times. I plan on holding on to it and reading it to my kids someday.

My mother read this book to me when I was a child around Halloween. Reading this book in the fall is a wonderful family tradition to start. Great book! Very interesting! Every child and parent will like!

I recently reread this childhood favorite of mine and love it just as much, if not more so, than when I first read it as a child. A charming story about a witch, Felina, who falls from the sky and lands in the backyard of a warm, loving family, the Doons. She ends up living with them and goes to school with the daughter, Lucinda. What I especially love about this tale is the way the author builds the humor right into the story itself. Nobody bats an eye to the fact that a witch has landed amongst them. To the Doon family and their friends and neighbors, it is just another day in their lives to have a witch, albeit, a mischievous and difficult one, living amongst them. Much of the humor revolves around Felina's little quirks and her uncooperativeness to the adult figures around her. A story that both boys and girls will enjoy.

I, too, found this book when I was about 7 years old, at Hudlow Elementary in Tucson, AZ. I read it over and over, delighting in the tale of Little Felina. Imagine my surprise when I found in the author's biography that SHE LIVED IN TUCSON, TOO!

My mother suggested that I write to her and tell her how much I enjoyed her book. I did, and she wrote me back! I wrote her again and again -- and she wrote me back, always interested in my stories about school, my family, my pets and my desire to be a writer like her some day.

Fast forward 35 years... I haven't become a writer (at least not yet!), but I have led a very blessed life, made all the richer by people like Ms. Laughlin - who made me believe that anything was possible.

There's something truly magical about this book, which is what makes it so special to the people who read it when they were children. I'm now reading it to my 5-year-old daughter, and it's a great bribery tool to get her to clean her room, put up the dishes, etc., because all I have to say is, "We can read an extra chapter of Little Leftover Witch tonight..." and she's all over it! If you haven't read this book, find a copy and join the (huge) club of people who are willing to search high and low to track down a copy of something they read 30 years ago!