The Little Leftover Witch

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Author(s)

Florence Laughlin

Publisher

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

August 27, 2013

ISBN

978-1442486775

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A little lost witch undergoes a magical transformation when she’s loved by a human family in this heartwarming story.

When Felina, a little witch, breaks her broom on Halloween and can’t fly home, she is stuck with the Doon family and their black cat, Itchabody, for an entire year. Although she’s homesick and unhappy, the Doon parents and their daughter, Lucinda, do their best to make Felina feel welcome. (And she has no trouble with Itchabody at all!) As time passes, the mischievous Felina learns what it means to be part of a family—and how, with love, she will always belong.

This timeless tale, originally published in 1971 and cherished ever since, brims with witchy whimsy and will find a home in the hearts of a new generation of readers.

Editor reviews

4 reviews

Overall rating

3.0

Plot

3.0(2)

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3.0(1)

A great retro witch title.

December 02, 2013

Overall rating

3.0

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When Felina, a young witch, crash lands near Lucinda's house on Halloween, Lucinda's family, the Doons, take her in. Since Felina can't get her broom to work, she is grounded for an entire year. The father reports her to the police and manages to obtain a license to keep her, and the family proceeds to accept Felina into their family despite her witchy ways. They convince her to eat things other than black bat soup, and manage to eventually have her give up her witch hat. With the help of a twinkly and kindly grandfather, she gets her own birthday, and eventually turns into a regular-- and happy-- little girl.

This is a reprint of the 1960 (Macmillian Publishing Co., Inc.) title, but has an updated cover illustration. It is a sweet and simple tale that is reminiscent of Ruth Chew's witch books from the same era, and is a strong tale about the power of love and family acceptance. Since Glee's Chris Colfer is writing the pilot for a Disney Channel show based on this book, I expect that demand will be high.

There are some details that could have been updated-- Felina goes to a party wearing a fluffy dress, the mother and father fall into fairly rigid stereotypes-- but younger readers will probably not even notice that the license cost for having a witch for a year is only one dollar!

Karen Yingling, Staff Reviewer Top 10 Reviewer 2014 reviews

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Super Cute Tale

September 14, 2013

Overall rating

3.0

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What a cute little story this one is! Short and sweet, The Little Leftover Witch is a story that features the struggles many children have when growing up in a little more supernatural manner.

This is a reprint from the original edition that was published in 1971 and I think this one would have done well from a few more things being updated - there were a few references and procedures that were out of date.

Lucinda and Felina are a super fun duo - they get into such mischief and are a darling pair.

I was instantly drawn into the unique storyline and blew straight through it. This is most definitely a great read for the Halloween season coming up!