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5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome Re-appearance of a Popular Personality, June 11, 2002
By A Customer
I am a librarian with years of experience in the children's room of a city library. I love children's books and I remember the pleasure I had reading earlier Miss Switch books. So when I saw that there was a new Miss Switch after all these years, I pre-ordered it from Amazon.com. I'm happy to report that this book is just as original, clever, and funny as the first two, "The Trouble with Miss Switch" and "Miss Switch to the Rescue."
Children love Miss Switch books. One child, a girl of 10 or so, reported that she was going on a Christmas ski trip with her family, and was taking her copy of "The Trouble With Miss Switch" with her. She had read it seven times, she said, but couldn't bear to leave it behind because, "It's the funniest book I've ever read." The Miss Switch stories are the kind that captivate children like this ten-year-old girl. They stimulate the imaginations of children, who go on to create silly characters and unlikely plots of their own that are akin to those in the books.
In the latest book, Rupert Brown, "great scientist" (according to himself, anyway), once again records his hair-raising experiences and his escape from the machinations of the evil witch, Saturna. He has no magic, nor for that matter any great scientific powers at all. He doesn't need them -- he has Miss Switch. That only he and his friend, Amelia, know that Miss Switch is a witch, adds to his problems and adds to the fun.
Rupert's talking pets, two clever guinea pigs and a turtle who fancies himself an opera star, retain the same unique personalities they had in the first and second books. And in "Miss Switch Online" the animals are joined by a new pet, Fred, a cockatiel, who is priceless.
The snappish, crackling Miss Switch returns of course, and is once again a teacher adored by her students, this time in the unlikely guise of Miss Blossom, who has long, flapping eyelashes and bee-stung lips. We also have Grodork, a warlock and not incidentally Saturna's brother, whom she has planted at Pepperdine Elementary as the school principal the better to do her dirty work. Although he is the handsomest man in the world, alas, he is also the stupidest. It hardly takes a shootout at the old corral to dispose of him, but disposed of he is, in the end, just as humorously as we expect. Happily, Saturna remains intact and, one hopes, will return another day to give Rupert more troubles -- and to give readers more chuckles.
One or two things deserve mention. The clever computowitch from the first book is now a website. Computowitch.com features some of the worst poety you are ever likely to encounter. Nine-year-olds will be rolling in the aisles at Saturna's really bad verses. Also, the silly pseudo-Latin words that crop up periodically will, I'm certain, have children making up their own.
This book doesn't really fit into the "fantasy" genre. It belongs, rather, in the "humor" category, where it will find its way into the hands of children looking for giggles. Once again children will be captivated by the ludicrous situations in which Rupert and Miss Switch find themselves. It is fantasy, of course (though with one foot firmly planted in the real world), but it is primarily a very funny book, and it seems to me that our children can do with all the humor we can give them these days.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome Back, Miss Switch!, November 30, 2002
By A Customer
Everyone's favorite witch is back, and the many fans of author Barbara Brooks Wallace are welcoming Miss Switch's return with open and eager arms.
Written with Ms. Wallace's usual wit, charm and impeccable plotting, the story reunites young Rupert P. Brown III with his former school teacher, that most admirable witch, Miss Switch, about whom he says, "Once you've had the best, nothing else is ever going to seem that good."
The same can be said for Ms. Wallace's book. In an age of heavy, morbidly serious children's fantasy, MISS SWITCH ONLINE comes as a welcome breath of fresh air, jiggling the reader's funny bone and charming a new generation of children looking for a good read and a good laugh.
Don't miss this one. It's a winner.
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