LOTS OF CATS

An independent witch who wishes for a playmate gets a little more than she bargained for.

Margaret has lots of interests that keep her busy, but sometimes it might be nice to have a friend to share them with. So she adds some extra ingredients to a spell to summon a playmate…but it backfires, producing 12 cats on her doorstop. Taylor’s detailed, textured colored-pencil illustrations show all the fun Margaret has with her new pals. But they also show all the trouble they cause: the mess they make, the food they eat, the hair they shed, and oh, the poop! So Margaret takes drastic measures to make them disappear (cat owners will not be surprised at what drives them away) and enjoys some brief alone time before realizing she misses their company. Spells to bring them back fail, and searches are in vain. But then, anticlimactically, she dreams of a spell to retrieve them and finds the cats in her bed when she wakes. Margaret is a childlike witch with light skin, short blondish hair, a purple dress, and a pointed witch’s hat. The pages that highlight the cats’ antics are the best (imagine the game of Twister!)—readers will long for their return along with Margaret. Still, those leaning toward introversion may cringe that there’s no compromise between all or nothing.

Even independent witches need some companions, but how many is too many? (Picture book. 4-7)