Witch & Wombat by Ashley Belote

September 20, 2023 By Leave a Comment


Witch & Wombat by Ashley Belote
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Holiday, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Every witch will want a wombat after reading this humorous picture book perfect for little readers who want a new pet!

Wilma, a young witch, cannot wait to get her very first cat! But when the pet store is fresh out of kittens, Wilma brings home. . . a wombat?! What a CAT-astrophe! A wombat is nothing like a cat, but maybe if Wilma puts cat ears on the little critter, no one will notice. . . . (Spoiler alert: they do.)

This bright and fun picture book teaches young witches that our differences can be our strengths when we have an open mind!

Witches know exactly what they need…right?

This tale had a playful sense of humor that worked well for the surprises that sometimes come up during the spookiest time of year. I chuckled as I peered closer at certain funny illustrations and read other lines a second time for the sheer joy of it. Wilma was delightful, and her silly attempts to make her new pet act more like a cat couldn’t have been better. Halloween and humor aren’t mixed together very often, so it was heartwarming to see them included in the same storyline here.

I found myself wishing that the storekeeper had explained to Wilma why he thought a wombat was an acceptable substitute for the cat she had ordered. Did he make a mistake with the order form from his supplier? Were wombats a common pet to order from his store? Why didn’t he ask her in advance what she thought of this solution? The logic there never made sense to me, and it detracted from an otherwise enjoyable story.

With that being said, I did appreciate the messages about making the best of things, respecting differences, having a good sense of humor, and being flexible about your plans. These are lessons that many adults often need to learn just as much as kids do, so this is something that can appeal to readers of all ages. Life may not always turn out the way we like, but the plot twists in it might end up being even better than what we originally hoped for!

Witch & Wombat was a cute Halloween read.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

To the Moon and Back for You by Emilia Bechrakis Serhant

April 22, 2021 By Leave a Comment


To the Moon and Back for You by Emilia Bechrakis Serhant
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

I swam through the deepest ocean.
I climbed the tallest mountain.
Finding you was a journey.
And meeting you was my greatest joy.
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In this picture book, illustrated by the #1 New York Times bestselling artist of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, families of different shapes, colors, and sizes must cross deserts, navigate rough seasons, and climb mountains–all to find their miracle babies. Emilia’s story reminds us that, despite the challenges and complications often thrown our way, hope will always prevail. To the Moon and Back for You combines a timeless feel with a timely subject, and is poised to become a modern classic for years to come.

Sometimes Mother’s Day is a celebration of a long and difficult journey.

There was so much love in this story. The main character waited a long time to become a parent, and her determination to finally be someone’s mom made me smile. There is definitely something to be said for showing moms who are as selfless and loving as this one. She was a good role model for young readers, and the depth of her feelings for her child were expressed well.

While I completely understood the metaphorical nature of the main character’s journey to parenthood, it was so abstract that the plot never really thickened into something most small children would appreciate. The audience saw the mother climbing a tall mountain and struggling to walk in hot, dusty desert, but the storyline never explained why these challenges were necessary in order for her to be able to find her baby. Everything was tilted so far in the favor of adult readers who can read between the lines that I’m not entirely sure how much this would appeal to the average small child unless the grownups in their lives explained some stuff in advance.

One of the beautiful things about this picture book was just how open-ended it was about how the main character eventually became a mother. Was her child conceived through fertility treatments? Did they adopt their baby? Is it possible the main character and her spouse signed up to be foster parents? Readers were free to come up with all sorts of explanations about how this baby came into her parents’ lives. The plot could have been interpreted to include any family planning option that currently exists which makes this useful for so many different types of families.

I’d recommend To the Moon and Back for You to any family who had a long or difficult journey when they decided they wanted to have a new baby.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , ,

Elmore by Holly Hobbie

October 8, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Elmore by Holly Hobbie
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (40 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Elmore is a porcupine desperate to make friends. But it is hard to seek closeness with others when you’re covered with spikes that shoot off your back every so often. Elmore suffers rejection and heartbreak, but the goodness of his forest community ultimately shines through as the animals find a way to connect with this prickly bundle of love.

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It was nice to get to know the main character a little bit before the narrator began to describe why he was such a lonely little guy. I knew just enough about Elmore to have sympathy for the long days he spent all by himself. He had so many positive qualities that I hoped would become clear if someone would simply give him a chance. The more I learned about him, the more I hope that he’d figure out a way to make some friends soon.

I loved the fact that Elmore’s quills were treated with so much respect. Yes, he was different from all of the other animals in the forest, but those differences were truly a cause for celebration. His quills were an important part of who he was as a porcupine, and I appreciated how much attention was paid to embracing this uniqueness instead of making him feel embarrassed about it.

The ending was perfect. It echoed all of the lessons of the earlier scenes while still feeling like a fresh take on the subject. One of my favorite parts of it had to do with how the author tied Elmore’s loneliness in with his feelings about having quills when none of the other young animals he wanted to play with had been born with the same feature. There was so much gentleness and acceptance in her descriptions of how he adjusted to the realization that some creatures were afraid of quills.

Elmore was a heartwarming tale that I’d wholeheartedly recommend to readers of all ages.

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