Customer Reviews

Zoom Broom

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was so fun to read. The story is about a cranky witch whose old broom goes kaput and how she tries to replace it. Adults will get a kick out of references to The Wizard of Oz and smarmy car salesmen. Kids will love the vivid illustrations and the hilarious language. The exchange between the salesman and the witch is a crack-up.

This story was a bit over my 4 year olds head, but kids 5 and up will surely enjoy it.

This "sequel" to Piggie Pie is fantastic! It's one of those books you don't mind reading, out loud and in character, over and over, whether your grandchild has fallen asleep or not.
The illustrations are rich and fun to see. If you're a long-distance grandparent, buy two copies--mail one to your grandchild and keep one for yourself. I'll be buying all of margie Palatini's books!

I've read it over and over and OVER again. I love it just a little more each and every time. My 7 year old son loves ZOOM BROOM almost as much as PIGGIE PIE! The book is thoroughly clever and doesn't lack a thing! The artwork is delicious, the words are precocious and the creativity divine. My son even recites the story from heart, almost word for word. Thank goodness for the fabulous artwork or he would give up reading for story telling. This is a must have Margie Palatini, Howard Fine creation!

More fast-talking fun from Margie Palatini and our favorite Piggie Pie witch. While parents may recognize the haggling dialogue with a broom salesman as an homage to the Abbot and Costello "Who's On First?" routine, kids will love it simply for it's silliness with language. Howard Fine's in-your-face, exaggerated paintings will catch and keep readers' attentions.

This is a wonderful, entertaining tale for adults as well as children. A modern twist to the old fairy tales with clever woven-in references to characters of other tales, movies and television. I love to read this book aloud with my 7 year old daughter. You just can't read it without becoming the characters!

I have not read Piggy Pie, so I have no prior connection or affection to Gritch the Witch.

But my 5 year old brought this home from the library and both of us were pretty confused.

The story is about how Gritch does a nose dive one day on her broom, it gets wrecked, and she takes off on a quest to find a new mode of transportation. She ends up at Foxy's, a slick salesman who tries to sell her all manner of new transportation, from a flying carpet to new brooms.

The author has Gritch refer to him as a flim flam man, and parents will be amused with her dialogue with him. But children frankly will be confused.

The most confusing part of this book is the portion where a "whos on first" type interchange happens between Gritch and the salesman.

This book is better left for kids 7-8 and up.

Zoom Broom is the hilarious sequel to Piggie Pie! This time Gritch the Witch has more problems. She just can't get what she needs 'cause her broom won't start.

So, she heads for Foxy the car dealer! He tries to sell her a rug, a pumpkin carriage, but what she needs is a Zoom Broom, a "stick that's quick."

In the end, of course, Gritch the Witch gets what she wants, but Foxy gets what he deserves, to the delight of young readers!

Margie Palatini's book was fun to read. We like the way she uses alliteration and onomatopoeia in her writing. Her style gave us lots of ideas to make our own writing better. Her story is very humorous We think Gritch the Witch was weird and very funny. Mrs. Palatini's description of her was great with her 13 toes, a lucky wart,and one big tooth. When she tried to select a new broom, it was like a comedy routine. The illustrations by Howard Fine really went well with the words. They were very exciting, detailed, and brightly colored. We would recommend this book to children from pre-school to fourth grade.

My all time favorite book is Piggie Pie. After reading the reviews on Amazon Zoom Broom sounded fun. It was good but - - - it was not as easy to read to my kindergarten class. They enjoyed it but I would get many more request to reread Piggie Pie.

As great as Piggie Pie was to read aloud in class, this book doesn't live up to it as a sequel. While the details are darling in illustrations and Gritch pulls a few snickers as she suffers a broken broom, the plot falls apart. She doesn't really resolve the problem, which makes it hard to use in the classroom as a great example of Beginning, Middle and End. Gritch is a great character, though, and I hope Palatini gives her more adventures!