Room on the Broom

Written by: Julia Donaldson

Illustrated by: Alex Scheffler

Dial Books, 2001, Hardcover Edition

Target Audience: 4-8 (and my 3 year old loves it too)

Genre: Fiction

Theme: Holiday/Seasonal

How We Discovered This Book: Grandma bought this for my daughter last Halloween, and it has quickly become our favorite Halloween book.

Summary: The story begins: “How the cat purred/ and how the witch grinned/ As they sat on their broomstick/ and flew through the wind.” A witch takes a broom ride and needs help from some animal friends along the way.

What I Liked: The rhyme is fluid, and never forced. I really admire writers who can write well in rhyme. I don’t attempt it, for fear of failing miserably. The story is cute and fun. At one point it could have gotten spooky, but a creative twist keeps it kid-friendly.

What Did My Kids Think? My kids ask for this book frequently, and sometimes they ask to read it again as soon as we’ve finished. I won’t spoil the twist for those of you who haven’t read it yet, but it gives the kids and me a chuckle every time.

Resources: Julia Donaldson has created her own companion book of activities with stickers, puzzles, and games. More can be found on the official Room on the Broom webpage.

The Tall Stories Theater Company has a study guide for teachers or homeschoolers to use, with activities like Mixing Up A Spell (literacy activity), Multi-Monster collage, story comprehension, and Rhyme Time.

Check out more picture book reviews each Friday at Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Book Friday.

Last week I kicked off a Halloween sounds story contest. Unfortunately, we did not have any entries, so there is no prize to award. If you are interested in a Halloween story contest, but our contest was too long or too complicated for you, check out the Halloweensie contest on Susanna’s blog. It kicks off on Monday and runs through Halloween. I’m planning to enter again this year.