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Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler

Room on the Broom has become something of a Halloween staple. It’s even been turned into a rather good cartoon.

It’s a wonderful story about a witch who keeps dropping things and finding woodland creatures who help her find them again. Each creature asks to join the witch on her broom and she happily agrees. Unfortunately, the broom can’t handle that much weight. A large dragon who like to eat witches attacks the overloaded broom, causing it to snap and allowing the dragon to catch the witch! But, fear not! The woodland creatures come to the rescue by scaring away the horrid dragon!

I love this story…BUT….it’s important to note that the which is very nearly eaten by a dragon, the illustrations show her being lifted into the dragon’s jaws, and the whole event is drawn out far longer than similar events in other children’s books.

The way the story is told proved to be extremely scary for some of the children in my life, and that made them dislike the book long-term.

I recommend previewing this book before reading it to your child. If it looks like something that they will find exceptionally scary, then wait a year or two before adding it to your Halloween-reading collection.

A quote can be found HERE.

All of the Halloween themed books, quotes and commentary posted to this blog can be found HERE.

Suggestions for Building Excitement Over The Holidays

Ordering Books: Whether you are building a family library or simply looking for a fun way to build-up to the Halloween celebration, having brand new books shipped to your home, in your child’s name, is a great way to do it. To a child, it is super exciting to receive a package in the mail, addressed to them! They may even want to read their brand-new book immediately AND before bed.

Library Holds: If you’d prefer to review the books before buying them, or need to maintain a tight budget, then use the local library. Go to the library website, locate the book and place it on hold. When the notification arrives, bring the child along and let them help find the books in the on-hold shelves.