Ruth Chew (1920–2010)

Reading the books I missed during my childhood awoke in me a great sense of nostalgia for something I did read then. And as a true book hoarder, I still have my copies of many of the books I lovingly accumulated from the Scholastic fliers in school. It is rare that I see my own children interested in something from "so long ago" and so these books sit on the kid book shelves fondly remembered but untouched by the short philistines I am apparently raising. So I decided that I needed to show more re-read one of the books I remember delighting my younger self so much. Being contrary, I didn't want it to be a book that pretty much everyone remembered reading so I scrounged through my long neglected kid books and finally unearthed Ruth Chew's The Witch's Buttons. I loved this book. It had so much potential and allowed for such flights of fancy, even after the last page was turned. And I can tell you I have always had a button basket ever since I read this book. It obviously fired my imagination as a child and continued to influence small things in my adult life so it was the perfect candidate for a re-read.

As I mentioned, this is my original copy of the book. And not only does it have a story that has stayed with me too many years later to count, but the physical book itself offers clues to the child I was. On the front inside cover in my schoolgirl cursive, I wrote my name. Given that it's in cursive, that probably means I read this in second or third grade, when we first learned such fancy pants writing. Even better than the badge of ownership, in the back, I created my own library due date and pocket for the book. It's made out of lined notebook paper and it looks like the book was never checked out of my library since no one else ever signed the slip. (I'm still reluctant to loan books as a matter of fact.) I have clearly been a book nut (or completely warped) from a young age, in case just *having* my original copies of the books wasn't proof enough! Should I admit that I carefully put the homemade due date slip back in the pocket and aligned it neatly with the fading around it? The back inside cover of the book, with its library addition looks like when a picture is removed from a wall and the shadow of its presence remains. I love that I got a quick glimpse at a me I only half remember just by opening the cover of the book.

The story of The Witch's Buttons is also a charming one and would likely hold up fairly well for kids today. Sandy has lost the button off of her brand new coat and while retracing her steps looking for it, she runs into Janet, a girl who is slightly annoying but who tells Sandy that her mother most likely has a match for Sandy's missing button in her button bag. Although the bag yields no match for Sandy, it does have a strange button shaped like a little Pilgrim man and Janet allows Sandy to keep it. Pocketing the button, the girls hurry to the trimming store to buy a button for Sandy's coat. When they get there they find a little gray-haired woman asking about unusual buttons. She is disappointed in her quest but when Sandy goes to pay for her common gold button, she mistakenly pulls the strange button out of her pocket and the woman is intrigued. But Sandy has already decided that her button is magic and she and Janet run home to try and evade the woman.

The woman eventually offers them five dollars for the button, telling the girls that it is an antique but once Sandy discovers that the button is alive and is indeed magic like she thought, they want to keep it. But witches always get what they want, right? And the girls drop the button, a kitten snatches it and runs off, and they end up at the witch's house watching in horror as she drops the button in a steaming cauldron. Out of the concoction comes a fully grown man in a bad mood who chastizes the witch for her carelessness in turning him into a button centuries ago. And this is just the start of the adventure.

The book is short. An adult will read it in no time flat. But it is charming and despite a few brief tense bits, there's nothing here that will scare a child. Betsy, the witch is kindly, her brother Silas is crabby, and Sandy and Janet get to have a marvelous adventure and start a friendship all because of a button (or three). The plot is the thing here and it moves along offering new surprises and enchantments around every corner. I never did read any others of Chew's books but this definitely has the feel of a series and after reliving the sweetness of the this one, I am hoping I'm correct in thinking there will be more button adventures for Sandy and Janet. Maybe I'll try to tempt my kids to read the book despite all of them being well past it in terms of reading level by getting out my little button basket and sorting through it before casually mentioning the book. This one will always be a keeper in my house. show less

I had only vague but happy memories of reading this book as a little girl, remembering the slightly incompetent witch who rode a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom and her talking black cat who helped a little girl with her homework. Rereading this as an adult was a pleasure, though the story is certainly dated now. But the humor and delightfully sensible nonsense is still there. Most of all, I was thrilled to uncover the origin story of one of our family quirks: Whenever we pile in the car show more after a long day’s activities, we all say, “Home, James!” I had forgotten why, except that it was just one of those silly things that families do. And now I remember how it started: In this book, the flying vacuum cleaner is named James, and when the witch is done making mischief on Wednesdays, she mounts the vacuum and shouts, “Home, James!” show less

A Chew book that's not about a witch! Still a fantasy for the youngest readers, though I think the other reviewer who shared it with a 5 yo was pushing it. There are some relatively sophisticated ideas here, like a pirate who isn't happy in his line of work, and the means & motive by which the kids get home. Unfortunately I'm not perfectly comfortable with the portrayal of the generic 'Indians' though and cannot quite recommend this, unless you are prepared to discuss it with your show more children.

(A bit of white savior, nation not specifically named, not sure if the 'apron' and headband are accurate to those who would have lived near Flatbush at the time.)
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Decided to read it one more time before donating it. 3.5 stars this time; otherwise the review stands. I like the trick of imagining the annoying night noises of the place you landed in as your own familiar noises instead... so the girl here, one rough night, imagined the hooting of an owl as traffic noise in Brooklyn, etc. show less

Yesterday I picked this up along with another Ruth Chew classic at a used bookstore and read it while basking in the afternoon sunshine here in Paradise. It was cute, short, full of kids and animals, and kids turned into animals; and a happy neighborhood witch who lets the kids call her Maggie.

I enjoyed this along with a pint of ale. No seriously, I did just read a wholesome kid's book while drinking a "Back in Black" IPA from 21st Amendment Brewery... That's an example of California show more decadence I guess.

One thing I noticed while reading was that all the women in this book are called "Mrs" even if they seem to be totally solo and there are no husbands anywhere in sight... Well, except for the woman from the Health Department, who refers to herself as Miss Feldman. I guess this was written in the days before Ms. show less