Which Way to Witch School?

Told in rhyming couplets, Scott Santoro's Which Way to Witch School follows a cheerful group of young witches through a year at Miss Thornapple's school, where they study chemistry (very important for potion-making) and physics (key for understanding broom aerodynamics), as well as put on dramatics, and swim in the swamp. All things must come to an end, however, and soon the witchy pupils are departing (as they came) in a flying schoolbus...

I have to confess that I wasn't all that thrilled with this new offering from Santoro - whose prior picture-book endeavors include Isaac the Ice-Cream Truck and Farm-Fresh Cats - which is disappointing, as I really liked the concept! Unfortunately, the narrative often felt a little strained to me - show more "Mathematics and physics can often apply / In finding out how magic broomsticks can fly" - and the illustrations were a little too flat (and "cutesy") for my taste. I understand that the author works as an animator, and that may explain some of my aesthetic discomfort, as I tend not to like picture-book retellings of animated films. Still, although this wasn't my cup of tea, it's quite possible that young children who are enthusiastic for the idea of a magical school (and how many aren't, in this post-Harry Potter world?), might enjoy this. show less

Wonderfully illustrated and lyrical story about little witches going to school. The author does an amazing joy of rhyming for each page and showing that witches going to school is just like other kids going to school. Cute and fun to read.