Jenny Hessell

A witch goes shopping in this very basic beginning reader from New Zealand, looking at a number of items—broomsticks, black cats, caldrons, and hats—before finally settling on the thing she truly wants: a witch-watch...

Published in 1988 as part of Shortland Publications' Literacy 2000 collection of beginning readers—it is listed as being part of Stage 2 / Set B on the inside back cover—The Present is a mere eight pages long, and features one sentence per page, presenting the various show more things a witch might want, and then rejecting them. The repetitive structure and extremely brief length of author Jenny Hessell's text no doubt lend themselves to the acquisition of reading skills (the intended purpose of the book), while illustrator Philip Webb's expressive illustrations depicting a witchy shop add visual entertainment value. I am glad I tracked this one down as part of my witchy witches project, although I'm not sure I would strongly recommend it, save as part of a literacy regimen using other titles from the same collection. show less

Touches of humour lighten an otherwise serious discussion, which can be quite a relief. The six-year-old narrator's mother has always warned him of The Terrible Things That Can Happen to Careless Children. He has difficulty understanding the death, through illness, of a schoolmate. He is angry because the boy did not do anything wrong to deserve such a fate. The narrator's mother explains that only very occasionally there are illnesses which doctors cannot fix. The book ends with the show more narrator's mother promising to talk to the teacher, as the teacher did not explain the schoolmate's death very well. This only emphasises the difficulty adults have in explaining death to children. show less

Grandma McGarvey proves she's still young at heart when she returns to school for Grandparents' Day.