the witch of blackbird pond. elizabeth george speare. (317)

after seeing the goosebumps movie, i went looking for goosebumps books at the library.  unfortunately, they didn't have any, but fortunately the word witch caught my eye, so i decided to check out the witch of blackbird pond.  though it wasn't exactly the kind of horror show i was looking for halloween, it was a wonderful book!

sadly, i never read the witch of blackbird pond, as a kid, but glad i did as an adult. set in the 17th century, the novel tells the story of a young girl, kit.  after the death of her grandfather, she left barbados to live with her aunt and her family in a colony in connecticut.  in barbados, kit lead a life of luxury, but she must adjust to the spartan life style of the purtians. god and work lead life and kid initially has a difficult time adjusting.

the witch part of the books comes when kit befriended the town's "witch", hannah tupper, who lived by blackbird pond.  hannah was a quaker and since their beliefs did not align with that of the purtians, she and her husbands were branded and sent from their previous town.  the people of kit's colony, regarded her as a witch, and people were forbidden to interact with her.  one day, kit sad about getting her cousin  mercy in trouble, ran out toward the pond crying.  hannah took her in and gave her advice. kit, then began visiting hannah regularly, after learning her friend, nate from her voyage to america, was hannah's friend as well.  

things started to go well for kit, the wealthiest boy in colony, wanted to marry her.  she and mercy continue with their school.  however, it all fell apart when kids began to get sick and die and hannah was blamed. kit helped hannah escape only to end up on trial for being a witch!

in the end, it all worked out because hey, this is a children's novel.  there was even a double wedding kind deal and a third engagement, which i found odd, but it was a different time.

this book is a must read for any and every girl.  kit is a wonderful role model for girls, she goes to the beat of her own drum, regardless of the scrutiny of others.  kit, also, has a heart of gold and demonstrates we should always do what is right versus what religion or society may tells us.

this book also gives an important lesson religious tolerance.  someone may not have the same beliefs as us, but that does not make them evil.  also organized religious can do a lot more harm then good when corrupted by those wanting power.

lastly, this book is a great introduction to the topic of the salem witch trials for kids.  it got me interested in the topic and i plan on reading more about these crazy accusations.  it was shocked with the novels initially introduction of witch like behavior. not seemed so silly for people to freak out because kit can swim.  no one was logical and assumed she could because it was customary in barbados.  furthermore, it was crazy to see the accusations that came up in trial, people accused of bewitching animals?!?! i know it made me grateful to have not been born in that era, because i would have definitely been labelled a witch!  it's sad though to think of the women that were burned at stake or drowned on these false accusations. 

this book is a truly great read and a must for everyone, especially women of all ages! 

the whingdingdilly. bill peet. (138)

as i mentioned in the post for "kermit the hermit".  i can't remember how i know this book but i do.  the story and the images are familiar i just can't recall how i know it.

the first thing i noticed was the dedication page.

and given the story, this dedication is super sweet!  even for an anti-dog person like me.

this is a story about about a dog named scamp.  scamp is sad because he feels he is not as special as the horse across the road.

one day while trotting around like a horse, his owner a little boy named orvie called him " a silly ol' dog".  this hurt scamp's feelings so he ran away.

he walked into a forest and came across a witch.  she knew scamp wanted to be a horse so she helped him out with her magic and turned him into a whingdingdilly!

scamp headed home but scared some pigs so when orvie called out to him, scamp was sure his new look would scare him so scamp hid from orvie.  

eventually, scamp went home.  he heard that orvie was sad that scamp didn't return home.  orvie's day offered to buy him a horse but orvie wanted a dog because they were a better companion.  this made scamp happy and a little embarrassed that he was now a whingdingdilly.

the next day, orvie found scamp as the whingdingdilly and scared off scamp.  scamp ran away and everyone started to chase him.  he went back to the forest to have the witch change him back but she was gone.  then the farmers caught up and a man from the palace of wonders came to take the whingdingdilly to be in his show.  scamp was miserable.  luckily he was up on display, the witch returned and saw that her tulips were ruined!  she decided to get her revenge by turning scamp back into a dog!  

since now he was only a dog, the man kicked out scamp.  scamp then returned home to orvie!!

scamp learned a very important lesson about being happy with who you are and you should not try to be something you are not!

happy valentine's day, emma! james stevenson (91)

so i take the kids from the dance studio on "adventures" to the library on tuesdays. tuesdays are now known as adventure days.

so today, emma (who is a high schooler) were helping rylie (who is a 1st grader) look for books. i suggested a valentine's day book. and as we were looking we came across this gem. ry was not interested because it isn't halloween. bi emma was excited her name was in the title so we checked it out. and i am so glad we did!

last year at the studio we hosted our first annual anti-valentine's day potluck because darlene is not a fan and i am up for any kind random potluck/party. i had the teachers and TAs make anti-valentine gifts ie crossed out love on stuff animals and gave half eaten boxes of chocolate. I also made these amazing cookies:

anyway, so when emma started to read the first two pages, she began to laugh.  and then emma christened the two evil witches, darlene and krisha. based on their hate of valentine's day and our anti-valentine's day potluck:

hilarious, huh?  and just for the record, i actually do love valentine's day.  my auntie tracey always got us the cutest gifts for valentine's day.  also i'm a sucker for hearts being put on anything and everything.  also it's the only time i can get juju hearts, well find them in stores.

so for those of you interested in the story.  lavinia and dolores are haters and hate on poor emma who loves valentine's day.  emma decides to make valentines even though she and her owl and cat friends are sure they won't get any in return.  so lavinia and dolores, being the haters they are, give emma valentines but horrible gifts like chocolate-covered worms and flowers covered in sneezing powder.  since their pranks are so mean, the cat, owl and emma plan their revenge.  they send valentines to lavinia and dolores, who all of a sudden are excited for the holiday and get done up and bake cookies.  but emma and her pals make them think their valentines are a giant rat and a giant frog so lavinia and dolores run way.  then emma and her pals go home and find all of their valentines from their woodland friends.

cute, huh?  will definitely become a valentine's day staple for my family, if and when i have kids.

the rabbi and the twenty-nine witches. marilyn hirsh. (70)

while looking through the table of kids halloween books at the library, i came across this gem. since one day i plan on converting and marrying a nice jewish boy, i had to check it out. the book is based on a talmudic legend, and stands as an example of why i plan on converting.

the story is about a village that is haunted by twenty-nine witches every full moon. the only time the witches did not come out was when it rained. as a result no one in the village ever saw a full moon. one day an old grandmother went to the rabbi to share her despair at the fact she had never seen a full moon. her exact words were "i want to see the full moon before i die! is that too much to ask?" (for some odd reason i heard it in fran descher's mom on the nanny's voice.) and so the rabbi came up with a plan to get rid of the witches. i have to add that every time the rabbi was mentioned it was normally followed by the line, "after all, he is the rabbi."

so the rabbi made it rain and then had twenty-nine of the cleverest men go with him to where the witches lived. he told the witches that he was a witch too and that they should teach each other magic. so he had the witches create a wonderful feast and then his "magic" was that men appeared to dance with them, and the men went into action. and the men danced the women out of the cave and into the rain, where they melted. how very wizard of oz, i know, i'll have to google to see if it's inspired baum.

so with the witches gone and their magical feast still there, the village threw a party! for "a good feast should not go to waste." that is the real moral of the story, because the one thing that i have learned from my jewish friends is that they can throw an amazing party and have the best holidays.