After reading and enjoying two of Adrienne Adams' witchy Halloween tales - A Woggle of Witches and A Halloween Happening - despite finding the narrative of the second a little weak, I was curious to see what I would make of this, a witchy title illustrated by Adams, but written by someone else. I'm so happy I gave it a chance, because not only did I find it superior (from a story-telling perspective) to the other two, but I also rediscovered a long-forgotten favorite from my youth! Although I have no distinct memory of when I first read Jeanne Massey's The Littlest Witch, I had no sooner picked it up on my train-ride this morning (subway, rather than commuter train this time), than I realized I was already familiar with it. I love it when that happens, and I stumble across a well-loved children's book I'd forgotten all about reading!

The story of a three-week old witch (I assume that's a reference to how long she's been a witch, rather than how long she's been alive?), who finds herself unable to keep up with the more experienced witches of her coven, on their Halloween-night race to the moon, The Littlest Witch follows its heroine as she discovers her own unique destiny as a "Good Witch." Helping a stray kitten (black, of course!), a sad pumpkin who wants to be a Jack-o-Lantern, and a bullied young trick-or-treater, the Littlest Witch sacrifices her chance at winning the race, but is given a beautiful reward in consequence.

I enjoyed Massey's story, which, although it has "good" and "bad" witches, manages to paint both in a somewhat sympathetic light. It turns out that every coven ends up with a "good witch," a reality they must simply endure, explains the Oldest Witch kindly: "No," said the Oldest Witch firmly, "she belongs to our circle and" (she looked sternly at the other witches) "good or bad we must take her for what she is! I also greatly enjoyed Adrienne Adams illustrations, which had all the usual witchy charm, and then some! ( )

Little Witch is the newest witch to the circle, but she hasn't quite gotten the whole thing down. When she gives up racing to the moon to help a kitten, pumpkin, and little boy, she feels like she's done something terribly wrong. The other witches explain to her that she's only become a good witch- and they would have been stuck with one, anyway. ( )