Clever Little Witch

by Muon Thi Van, Hyewon Yum (Illustrator)

Overview

Magical mayhem and hilarity ensue when a clever little witch tries to turn her baby brother into a goldfish in this funny and imaginative picture book about sibling rivalry.

Little Linh is the cleverest little witch on Mãi Mãi island. She has everything she could need: a trusty broomstick, a powerful spell book, and a magical pet mouse. She also has a new brother named Baby Phu, and she does not like him one bit. He crashes her broomstick, eats pages out of her spell book, and keeps her up all night. Little Linh tried giving Baby Phu away, but nobody will take him, not even the Orphanage for Lost and Magical Creatures.

So, she’ll just have to try something else…like turning him into a goldfish. The only problem is, Baby Phu ate the second half of the spell. Still, there’s a reason Little Linh is the cleverest little witch. She can guess the second half of the spell…but it might take a few tries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481481724
Publisher:	Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date:	07/23/2019
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Lexile:	560L (what's this?)
File size:	35 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 6 Years

About the Author

Muon Thi Van is the critically acclaimed picture book author of In a Village by the Sea, The Little Tree, and The Most Terrible of All. She lives in northern California with her family. Visit her at MuonThiVan.com.

Hyewon Yum is the author and illustrator of Puddle; The Twins’ Little Sister; Last Night, a Fiction Honorable Mention for the Bologna Ragazzi award and winner of the Golden Kite Award; There Are No Scary Wolves, winner of Society of Illustrators’ Founder’s Award; The Twins’ Blanket, a Junior Library Guild selection; and Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten!, which won the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award and was selected as a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. Hyewon’s latest, A Piece of Home, written by Jeri Watts, received multiple starred reviews. Hyewon lives in Brooklyn, New York. Learn more at HyewonYum.com.

Editorial Reviews

04/29/2019

Văn (In a Village by the Sea) sets this magical caper on Mãi Mãi Island, where Little Linh shows readers the items every witch needs (a broomstick, spell book, and winged mouse), then presents her problem: “Do you know what a clever little witch does not need? A baby brother.” Baby Phu, it seems, squalls, chews on spell books, and messes with his sibling’s broomstick. After offering Baby Phu to the island’s otherworldly creatures (they aren’t interested), Linh decides to turn him into a goldfish. He’s eaten the page the spell is printed on, so she improvises, chanting, “From the tip of your nose to the top of your toes, bubble eyes, marble size, let me see those fishy eyes.” The spell doesn’t work, and Yum (Bark in the Park!) draws the resulting mayhem as Baby Phu turns into a succession of animals, none of them goldfish. Yet when all goes awry, it’s Baby Phu who comes to the rescue. Linh has spirit and energy, even when things aren’t going her way, but the story’s real draw lies in its Southeast Asian setting—clever little witches can be found everywhere. Ages 4–6. Author’s agent: Liza Fleissig, Liza Royce Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Sean McCarthy, Sean McCarthy Literary Agency. (July)

Publishers Weekly

01/24/2020

PreS-Gr 1—Little Linh, the self-proclaimed "cleverest little witch on Mãi Mãi Island" has everything a witch needs--a broomstick, a book of spells, and a cute winged mouse familiar. Unfortunately, she also has a pesky toddler brother who wreaks havoc flying on Linh's broomstick, chews up her book of spells, and uses her magic pet to keep her up at night. To rid herself of the nuisance, she offers up Baby Phu to other magical denizens of the island but they want nothing to do with him. Exasperated, the little witch decides to turn him into a goldfish and discovers that half of the spell page has been eaten by Phu. Efforts to improvise the second half turn the little terror into a frog, a seal, and finally a dragon who, in the end, saves his older sister from a fall. Yum's cheerful acrylic gouache and color pencil illustrations depict a pleasant island setting with serene ocean and palm trees contrasts with the characters' cartoonishly expressive faces that radiate mischief, annoyance, alarm, and occasional contentment. VERDICT A magical and humorous, but entirely relatable tale of sibling rivalry (and reconciliation).—Yelena Voysey, formerly at Pickering Educational Library, Boston University

School Library Journal

2019-05-26
With the help of a little magic, a young witch tries to make her annoying baby brother more tolerable.

Little Linh has all she needs to be "the cleverest little witch on Mãi Mãi Island": a broomstick, a "book of powerful spells," and a "rare and magical pet" (a glowing, winged mouse). What she does not need is a baby brother. Baby brothers sneak disastrous rides on your trusty broomstick, eat your spell book, use your pets against you, and disturb your sleep. No one else seems to need or want Baby Phu either—not the troll under the bridge, not the fairy queen in the forest, and certainly not the werewolves at the Orphanage for Lost and Magical Creatures. Naturally, magic will solve the little witch's brother problem. With her spell book partially eaten, Little Linh gamely casts spell after half-concocted spell with the intent to transform Baby Phu into a nice goldfish. The results, though, are not quite what she had hoped. Her guesswork to repair the spell goes "terribly, terribly wrong"—but it turns out that having a little brother might just prove to be a lucky thing. Yum's illustrations (acrylic gouache and color pencil) alternate perspectives and angles, energetically capturing the escalating sibling situation. Readers will recognize the looks of mischief, innocence, and determination on Little Linh's and Baby Phu's faces. Creatures—familiar and fantastical alike—give clues to the impending magical misfires taking place on this Southeast Asian island.

A charming take on sibling conflict. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews