THE WITCH'S EGG

Chorao's silhouette and black line illustrations, though without the surreal depths of Ralph and the Queen's Bathtub (KR, p. 104, J-68), contribute some high spirited style to Edmondson's tale of mean, bad-tempered witch Agatha who spends her time night riding and watching horror movies until a cuckoo leaves an egg in her eagle's nest home. Just because all the local mother birds want to adopt the egg Agatha hatches it herself, and though she's happy then with the new Witchbird for company, she won't admit that she misses him when he flies South. The ending though is as predictable as Witchbird's migratory route, with a reunion in spring and a lifetime of summers spent ""flying through the town together, thumping, bumping, cackling and scaring people out of their wits."" But it's hard to imagine how this domesticated broomstick duo could raise a shudder.