Book Review: The Not-So-Wicked Witch

Witches tend to have a bad reputation in literature, especially children’s stories. From the Wicked Witch to Roald Dahl’s The Witches, they’re always scheming and trying to cause havoc, steal children (and sometimes even eat them) and other terrible things.

But sometimes a witch comes along who doesn’t want any part of all that mischief. What’s a not-so-wicked witch to do when she doesn’t want to do the things the other witches want to do?

That’s the idea behind The Not-S0-Wicked Witch by Bethan Stevens.

The naughty little witches (all the witches are portrayed as young girls) are always causing trouble, stealing socks, eating the last cookie, tracking mud everywhere. But the littlest witch wants to be helpful, friendly and nice to people.

While the other witches warn her that her face might get stuck with a smile and that she’s giving witches a bad reputation, she still just wants to be kind.

So when the witches come upon a human child’s birthday party — complete with their favorite food, marshmallows — the naughty witches want to make a sleeping potion to feed the children so they can steal the treats. But the littlest witch has a plan that will help everyone to get what they want.

It’s a sweet little story for preschool and early grades, with cute pictures also drawn by the author. This is a fun non-spooky Halloween tale that’s great for use in the classroom or at home. You can use it as a way to talk about what actions are naughty and which ones are nice, and what kind of people we prefer to be around. Because the kids are nice to the witches when they are nice to the kids, it serves as a reminder that it works that way with people, too.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2024 by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books. Suggested retail price $18.99.

Ghost crafts are a lot of fun for kids to make and they’re a way to get into Halloween crafting that’s not really scary. Here are some easy ghost crafts for you to make with kids, whether it’s your kiddo at home or a class full.

I love this simple ghost made with a pompom or cotton ball covered in paint and used as a stamp. This one is from Crafts on Sea and you can have kids just hold the pompom or hold it with a clothespin to make it a little less messy.

Use cotton balls and printable facial expressions to make these silly ghosts from Housing a Forest. The post includes the printable templates or you can just add googly eyes.

Little fabric ghosts are a classic, whether you make them with white fabric or fall or Halloween fabric. Buggy and Buddy shows you how to make these little ghosts with a few cute embellishments. Just make one or two or make a garland or Halloween tree full of them.

There always seem to be paper plates lying around, and this paper plate ghost from Crafts by Amanda is a fun one. There’s a printable in the post for the facial features and arms, or kids can draw their own faces (and leave off the arms if you want to keep it simple).

What kid doesn’t love peeling dried glue? Turn that impulse into a craft with these glue ghosts from Friends Art Lab, and don’t miss the tip in the post that helps you turn these into window clings.

This handprint ghost in the window craft from Glued to My Crafts is so cute and easy for kids to make alone or with help. The post shows lots of variations so it would be fun to make these in a classroom and let each kiddo design their own “window” or add embellishments.

These sweet little tissue paper ghosts from Red Ted Art are actually mini pinatas, but you can just make it as a ghost without anything inside if you’d rather.

And you know I love a good kids’ sewing project so I can’t resist sharing these little felt ghost puppets from The Craft Train. Kids can sew them by hand or you can make them out of paper if you don’t want to try sewing them. The template for the ghosts is free to download, and you can also just make little softies instead of puppets if you like.

Have you read?

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