The Warthog's Tail [Hardcover]

Debby Atwell (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

It's Haloween, and Tegan, the witch's daughter, can't wait to Trick or Treat. First she must hurry home to help with her mother's special Haloween spell. But when she gets there, she discovers a sleeping wathog is blocking her gate! Too afraid to go near the nasty, tusked beast, Tegan tries to cast a few spells, but neither the dog, nor the stick, nor the magic match wil obey her bossy commands. What's a little witch to do? Just as she begins to worry that she'll never make it home in time for Trick or Treat, an old man comes walking down the road. Seeing her distress, the old man offers a suggestion: If spells won't work, maybe Tegan should try the magic of persuasion?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3–Tegan, a witch's daughter, is hurrying home so as not to be late for Trick or Treat, but a large, fearsome warthog is blocking the gate to her house. Though too young to perform magic, she decides to try a few spells to move the animal. First, she commands a passing dog to bite it, but her magic fails and the dog says no. She adds to the spell, and each addition gets more violent, until she is chanting: Match, match burn stick. Stick, stick beat dog. Dog, dog bite warthog so I can get home in time for Trick or Treat. But all refuse to obey her bossy demands. Fortunately, an old man comes by and teaches the girl about the art of persuasion. After some practice, she convinces him to throw the match at the stick and begin her spell. The final picture shows Tegan's mom putting away an old-man disguise before taking her daughter trick or treating. Single-page, bright, overly busy illustrations do little to enhance the choppy text. Readers may be disturbed to find that instead of finding another way to rouse the warthog, the old man goes with Tegan's last resort spell of beating the dog with a burning stick to get him to bite off the warthog's tail.–Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 3. This highly atmospheric Halloween story manages to work in a lesson about how to win friends and influence people (or warthogs). A witch's daughter faces a huge obstacle to her trick-or-treating plans: a slavering warthog is curled up in front of the gates to her home, and the girl's mother has banned her from using magic until she is older. The young witch uses her powers anyway. First, she tries to coerce a dog into biting the warthog. When that fails, she attempts to get a stick to move the dog, and then to light a match to fire up the stick. Nothing works, until an old man advises her to try simple persuasion. The idea of not being able to trick-or-treat will grab kids' attention, and Atwell's paintings, with elongated shadows of bare branches and ravens contrasting with the golds and purples of a Halloween sunset, establish the perfect setting. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618507817
• ISBN-13: 978-0618507818
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,895,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book not just for Halloween, October 14, 2011

By 

Californiacricket "californiacricket" (Birmingham, AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Warthog's Tail (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book, original story with lessons about how to ask nicely for what you want. Also there is a surprise in the story that most children don't notice until they have read it several times! My boys (3 and 5 years old) love it. I just read it to my 3 year old's class (mixed ages from 3-5) and everyone begged me to read it again, then they all wanted a turn to look at the book afterwards.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another delight by Atwell., December 17, 2009

By 

Ardita (East Coast, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Warthog's Tail (Hardcover)

If Tegan is the witches daughter, what about Olney and Nate? :)

This is a delightful tale, with bright original artwork and a good lesson for anyone about the power of persuasion. You'll be sure to enjoy this fun story.