How to Catch a Witch (How to Catch... Series)

by Alice Walstead, Megan Joyce (Illustrator)

Overview

A New York Times and USA Today bestseller from the hit How to Catch series! Do YOU have what it takes to snatch a Halloween witch?

It's Halloween night and something doesn't seem quite right... When the How to Catch Kids head out to trick-or-treat, there are ghosts, goblins, and ghouls everywhere! Our heroes discover a witch on a broom has opened a magical portal that let out spooky creatures all over the neighborhood. Follow along in this frightfully fun story as they set zany traps for the witch to close the portal and save Halloween before all the candy is gone!

How to Catch a Witch is a treat sure to delight young readers and educators alike with STEAM concepts and classic hilarity and chaos. The perfect Halloween gift or basket stuffer that kids ages 3-7 will love!

You've been waiting all year long to trick-or-treat with friends.

But wait—a witch is on the loose! We'll catch her before night's end!

Also in the How to Catch Series:

• How to Catch a Monster
• How to Catch a Unicorn
• How to Catch a Mermaid
• How to Catch a Dinosaur
• How to Catch an Elf
• and more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728210353
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	08/02/2022
Series:	How to Catch...
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	92,405
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.35(d)
Age Range:	4 - 10 Years

About the Author

Alice Walstead is a children’s book author who loves to make kids smile with her stories.

Editorial Reviews

"Sufficiently eerie" — Kirkus

"Words and text rhyme neatly alongside beautifully animated illustrations that incorporate vibrant children’s costumes, as well as ghouls, ghosts, and witches... Walstead integrates STEAM-like activities... A great addition to any children’s room Halloween collection" — School Library Journal, STARRED review

"A frightfully funny story." — City Parent

From the Publisher

★ 06/01/2022

PreS-Gr 2—A creepy, silly story about the neighborhood children trying to trick a mischievous witch into leaving their town before the end of Halloween night. In this return to Walstead's "How to Catch" series, the children prepare themselves for Halloween by putting on their costumes. As they set out to go trick or treating, they notice ghosts, ghouls, and goblins. "But there aren't enough kids in our town to account for this many creatures. Some of these beings just might be real!" The children discover that a witch has come to their town to cause mischief, and she has brought the creatures with her. The children go about setting traps like a "Busting Best Moves" dance competition where they hope the witch will get stuck to the floor by spiderwebs. When that doesn't work, they create a tunnel of tricks as a roadblock, but the witch outsmarts them by flying over it. Just when the kids are about to give up, the witch opens a portal, and all the goblins and ghosts disappear from the neighborhood. Words and text rhyme neatly alongside beautifully animated illustrations that incorporate vibrant children's costumes, as well as ghouls, ghosts, and witches. As with the other titles in this series, Walstead integrates STEAM-like activities that children can construct using typical household items, such as using a cardboard box to create a booby trap for the witch. VERDICT A great addition to any children's room Halloween collection.—Annmarie Braithwaite

School Library Journal

2022-05-11
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.

Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews