Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story - Softcover

Harriet Ziefert has written dozens of books for the very young, including Scare the Moon for Walker, illustrated by Brian G. Karas. She worked for many years as an elementary school teacher and more recently has done graduate work in child development at the Psychoanalytic Institute of the NYU Medical Centre. She divides her time between New Jersey and Massachusetts.

PreSchool-Grade 1-A simple counting story for group sharing and beginning readers. One little witch plus another little witch add (one at a time) a clown, skeleton, striped cat, and so forth, to their retinue until there are "ten trick-or-treaters going trick-or-treating in the dark on Halloween night." Encountering a monster at a spooky old house, all scatter until only the two little witches remain. One rides off on her broomstick and the other walks home and counts her treats, leaving none. The text is simple and the addition predictable, ideal for novice mathematicians. The phrases "going trick-or-treating" and "in the dark on Halloween night" are used repeatedly, but do not build a strong rhythm or invite children to join in the oral reading, as does Sue Alexander's Who Goes Out on Halloween? (Bantam, 1990). Taback's large, primitive, watercolor-and-ink cartoons are especially delightful, though, both spooky with bold uses of black backgrounds and reassuringly familiar with the obviously homemade costumes. And Ziefert's surprise ending is a nice bonus.
Claudia Cooper, Ft. Stockton Independent School District, TX
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.