Judi Barrett

Author Judi Barrett and illustrator Sharleen Collicott deliver an entertainingly interactive witchy extravaganza in Which Witch Is Which?, asking a series of questions - "Which witch is flicking a switch?" or "Which witch is a sneaky snitch? - and presenting four options. The young reader or listener must then examine the illustrations, in order to see which witch, of the four named, is the guilty party.

Although not really a storybook, I imagine that Which Witch Is Which? would make an show more engaging story-hour read, particularly in one-on-one sessions. Children will enjoy searching for the answer to each question, and will appreciate the rather fantastic artwork, done in gouache. Witches come in all shapes, sizes and species, and that too - the frog witches, the dog witches, and so on - will please young children. I don't know that this one has much relevance for the Halloween season - it can really be read at any time of the year - so I'd recommend it primarily to any young reader who enjoys puzzles, and interactive picture-books, rather than to those looking for specifically witchy fare. show less

Sometimes, we divide ourselves up over silly things. How we pray. Who we want to marry. What we look like. What hand we write with... wait, what? (Actually, tangent, historically lefties HAVE been discriminated against, but that's another book for another day.)

Yes, let's go to the towns of Left and Right, where they each have half a clock, and half of a big dotted yellow line that NOBODY CAN CROSS. Why? Who knows, who cares, it's always been that way!

Until somebody does cross it. Not because show more they want to change things - far from it! But then the knights got involved, and it all got out of hand, and there's some amusing pictures of people building snowmen out of marshmallows until everybody in the two towns realizes how stupid this is.

The story doesn't make much logical sense, but I don't think it's supposed to. I think it's supposed to illustrate how very very SILLY this sort of thing all is. And it does so admirably well, without seeming TOO preachy. show less

Update: this book is now available on openlibrary.org. You can 'borrow' for free, to read a scanned copy online. Legal and available around the world. Easy to sign up for an account.

I'm going to assume you can't get a copy of this little old book from your library and just tell you our hero's idea. Because the thing is, I expected, from the blurb, that Benjamin would learn a lesson about greed, or about things being more special for being rare. Nope. Just the opposite. Every evening Benjamin show more wraps up something he *already owns* and every morning he unwraps it, and so he can appreciate it all over again like a brand new present. Very Eastern philosophy, if you ask me. Also brilliant. Also the pictures are charming. Also the ending is satisfying. If you actually can read this, do so. But at least think about the idea... what a terrific way to find more joy in life. And tonight, wrap a ribbon around your favorite coffee cup or bathrobe; see if you don't smile in the morning. show less

I really like this book, mainly because it is talking about food falling from the sky and that is essentially my dream world to live in. I liked how in the beginning, before the grandfather starts telling the story, the illustrations are in black and white and while he is telling the story, the illustrations are in color. I think that this gives more depth to the story because you can visually tell the difference between reality, and the story he is telling. For example, as he is starting show more the story, one the one page it is black and white as he is saying, "Across an ocean, over lots of huge bumpy mountains, across three hot deserts, and one smaller ocean...." Then, on the other page it is saying, "...there lay the tine town of Chewandswallow," and you can see the transition from black and white, to color, between the two pages. I really like the one section where they say, "they would even hear a prediction for the next day's food," which was funny because in the picture the weather reporter was predicting "cloudy with a chance of meatballs" as the next days forecast. I also really like the wording of things in this book such as, "Chewandswallow" and "tomato tornado." I thought that this was a nice addition to the story.

There wasn't really a big message to this story, however, I think that this story shows students that using your imagination is a really great thing and always remembering to be creative and think outside the box. The author did a great job at showing their creativity. For example, you have a whole world where your food falls from the sky at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the Sanitation Department cleans up the extra food that is left over and feeds it to the stray cats, dogs, and even ocean animals like fish, turtles, and whales. Also, in the end where the townspeople decide to flee, they use the stale bread to create a raft to sail to away from Chewandswallow. All of this shows extraordinary creativity from the author and I think this can really set an example for children. show less