Room on the Broom

"The witch had a cat / and a hat that was black, / And long ginger hair / in a braid down her back. / How the cat purred / and how the witch grinned, / As they sat on their broomstick / and flew through the wind."

So begins this entertainingly witchy picture-book from British author/illustrator team Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, who also worked together on the well-received The Gruffalo. With a rhyming text that just begs to be read aloud - the rhythm is just right, and the refrain, in which the witch descends, time and again, to fetch some lost item, is engrossing - and adorable illustrations, Room on the Broom is an ideal selection for a Halloween story-hour!

I mentioned, in my review of Laura Krauss Melmed's Fright Night Flight, show more that I had seen that book compared to this. Having now read them both, I can say that I definitely prefer Room on the Broom, from both a narrative and illustrative perspective. The text here just flows so smoothly, and is such fun to read, and the artwork is so immensely appealing (love that cat and dog!), that they really don't compare. A big thank you to my friends, Kathryn and Lisa, for making me aware of this one! show less

Julia Donaldson is a national treasure!! Room on the Broom, and The Gruffalo, are two of our all time favorites.... they're like bedtime treatises....the " Get kids to sit still" manuals that should be in every parents arsenal...they're sublime, splendorous, amazing, hilarious, wonderful, terrific.... you get the point.

In Room on the Broom we meet a kind hearted witch who just can't let a good deed go unrewarded, she allows every animal who comes to her aid on her broom... this ends in a comedically tragic way, and she is left with the challenge of making ROOM ON HER BROOM!!

Room on the Broom is a load of fun for kids who like witches and broomsticks and friendships between a witch and animals. As the witch flies through the air, she keeps losing things and all the animals who find them for her want one thing - a ride on her broom.

A fun, silly picture book about a witch and all the animals she finds room for on her broom. I picked this up as a Halloween treat for the nieces, and found it a lovely, atmospheric (but not scary) read with fun illustrations.

This is a cute, upbeat, rhyming Halloween story. There is nothing scary about it at all, and in fact, it even has a nice message about sharing and teamwork. If you have a little one (like I did last year) who wants to be involved in the Halloween festivities, but can't helped but be spooked by every little thing, this book is safe for you!

There's always room for one more on this witches broom! In this gently scary rhyming romp, you zoom with a witch and her cat on her broom through the night. A wind picks up and the witch loses her hat and the adventure begins. Helpful animals find the witches lost items and return them and all they want is a ride on the broom, to which the witch obliges. Children will love to join in the repeated refrain "The witch tapped her broomstick and whoosh! they were gone!" (which for some reason, always reminds me of Hee Haw) Though not about trick or treating or Halloween in general, this is a great choice for the scary season!

Fun to read aloud if your child's attention span isn't too short. Very kid-friendly mix of adventure, humor, and a touch of fear. The illustrations of the witch during the dramatic part don't look quite right to me, though.

Impulse reread. This time I laughed out loud at the end, and so my adult son looked over and exclaimed "She's not even touching the broom now! It won't work!"
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Turns out that there's a board book edition, which I read for Children's Books BB discussion. That is much too large for a tot to carry around. I'm really confused about what BBs are for, what's the point of them, I guess.