Book: Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson; Illustrated by Axel Scheffler

Just in time for Halloween, I have another spooky picture book to share before spooky season comes to a close. This one is an especially kid friendly type of spooky, starring a witch but without the usual scares.

As is typical, our witch has a broom, a cat, and a big black witchy hat. She likes to fly in the wind, but has some trouble holding on to her belongs. As she drops items along her journey, she is helped by a variety of new animal friends who then join her for a ride on the broom. After a crash landing and encounter with a hungry dragon, the witch gets a little unexpected help from her new friends. There’s a few good conversation tie ins here—the animals and witch helping each other, being nice to others coming back around to you, or even just that it’s good to have friends (even if you are a witch).

The story is told in rhyming verses, with some nice illustrations to go along. I liked that some of the pages had a single dominant picture, but that there were also some pages with a few frames of pictures, or intermingled pictures and text. The text itself is probably easy enough for early readers, but the rhyming also creates a nice rhythm for a read aloud. Bonus points for being a Halloween themed book that can still be enjoyed by little ones who may be a little too easily spooked!

Boris’s Thoughts: “I don’t think I believe you when you say this is the last of the spooky books.”