If Your Babysitter Is a Bruja

by Ana Siqueira, Irena Freitas (Illustrator)

Overview

This bouncy, bilingual picture book is an enchanting, rollicking read-aloud for small ones with big imaginations.

On the night before Halloween, a new babysitter might be more than she appears. If she wears a black sombrero and cackles like a crow, she might just be a bruja! One little girl is determined not to fall victim to an evil witch or her cats. She knows bath time is really the bruja’s way of putting her in a boiling cauldron, and the only way to keep her at bay is with a magic potion—or is it?

With a boundless imagination and plenty of tricks up her sleeve, the young protagonist may just have the best night ever!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534488748
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	08/23/2022
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,063,999
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD510L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Ana Siqueira is an award-winning author from Brazil who cackles but doesn’t wear hats. When not flying with brujas, she teaches Spanish to adorable little ones, where she casts a learning spell that nobody can resist. Besides Bella’s Recipe for Success and If Your Babysitter Is a Bruja, Ana has also published a Spanish early reader for the education market. She loves being an abuela and a vovó to her Cuban-Brazilian American grandkids. She lives in Florida with her husband, who just might be a wizard.

Irena Freitas is an award-winning artist and illustrator. She has an MFA in illustration from SCAD and loves illustrating people, funny situations that happen in daily life, and whimsical stories. When she is not reading and illustrating books she likes to travel and visit new places. Irena lives in Manaus, Brazil.

Editorial Reviews

08/22/2022

As Halloween approaches, an evening with a new babysitter becomes a high-energy adventure in Siqueria’s seasonal story, which incorporates Spanish phrases. Though the sitter rolls up on a bicycle, the book’s second-person narrator sees things with holiday-colored glasses: “If she zooms in on a broom, black sombrero on her head, cackling like a crow... ¡¡CORRE! RUN!” Vibrant vignettes center the child and possibly-bruja babysitter, both portrayed with tan skin, Freitas depicts the action: the backyard jungle gym becomes a castle under an inky black sky dotted with ghost decorations, while bath time is described as involving “a bubbling cauldron with starving COCODRILOS!!!” As the child comes around on the sitter, final scenes sustain the upbeat tone. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Freitas’s cartoonish digital illustrations in mostly cheerful hues show a witch and her babysitting charge in a cat-and-mouse game whose object, ultimately, is friendship and a pleasant bedtime. Baby-Sitters Club members, take note: brujas-in-training make the best sitting charges."

Horn Book Magazine

06/17/2022

PreS-Gr 2—A young girl's imagination turns her experience with a new babysitter into something fun and spooky in this bilingual picture book. Halloween approaches, and a young girl gives advice to readers on what to look out for if they're spending a night with a new babysitter. She might arrive with a spooky dress and sombrero, she might cackle and throw you in her bubbling cauldron. As the little girl runs from the witch, readers will enjoy seeing the various activities they both enjoy and the way the little girl's imagination transforms them, from playing outside to taking a bath, to having a late night snack. As the night comes to an end, the little girl has enjoyed herself tremendously. The fun illustrations are a mix of spooky Halloween colors and bright vibrant shades, and the lyrical text with Spanish words and phrases sprinkled throughout make this a perfect choice for all occasions. VERDICT A fun addition to picture book collections for children, and a perfect choice for October reads.—Selenia Paz

School Library Journal

2022-05-25
A child thinks their babysitter might be a witch.

It’s Halloween, and a child spies their new babysitter arriving. The babysitter has a long nose, a large beauty mark on her cheek, and a tall pointed black hat on her head—telltale signs of a witch. As the child and babysitter move through their night, the child chronicles ways readers might identify a babysitter as a bruja (“If she zooms in on a broom. / black sombrero on her head. / cackling like a crow…”) as well as ways to outsmart a bruja: by mixing up a concoction that causes her to yell “¡Ay Caramba!” taking the bruja’s broom, and hurling water at her. But slowly the child realizes that maybe brujas aren’t so bad after all. Unitalicized Spanish words are incorporated throughout. Freitas’ digital art depicts a colorful house full of Halloween decorations and homey details, and the spreads with the bruja on her broom (or bike) are full of whimsical shapes. The characters’ faces are expressive, and it’s clear the child isn't afraid of the maybe-a-witch babysitter. Of course, the joke is “it’s almost Halloween” and the babysitter could just be wearing a witch costume...but do we know for sure? Characters are tan-skinned and cued as Latinx. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A fun tale to share during spooky season. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews