In Hirsh's little village, ""children went to school, cows gave milk, and grown-ups worked."" In short, everything is as it should be--except for ""twenty-nine of the meanest, scariest, ugliest, wickedest witches that ever were"" who live in a nearby cave. Among other misdeeds, ""they turned flowers into poison mushrooms"" and ""bit each other out of sheer nastiness,"" and on every full moon they fly over the town wreaking havoc. How the wise rabbi enlists the 29 bravest young men to rid the village of the witches reads aloud delightfully. Marilyn Hirsh's snarly-haired, disorderly coven spills across the pages looking properly pesky, and her parting view of those 29 curly-sideburned heroes kicking up their heels leaves everyone happy but the witches.