Cosmo and the Magic Sneeze

This charming story follows the adventures of a magical cat family. Cosmo the kitten turns out to be a witch-cat like his father, Mephisto. His mother, India, is an ordinary cat and so can’t help Sybil the witch with her spells.

At first Cosmo is excited about being a witch-cat. He rides on broomsticks with his father and learns how to produce magic sneezes. But the curious kitten begins to suspect that Sybil is up to no good. He tries to find out exactly what her secret recipe contains and uncovers her devious plan to turn kittens into gold statues.

The large typeface and humorous black and white illustrations make this an excellent book for younger readers. It could be argued that a story about cats and kittens will appeal more to girls, but the story isn’t about ‘all things nice’, and the witch’s bubbling cauldron full of frogs’ legs and rats’ droppings is bound to capture the imagination of boys in this age group too.

Fortunately the author’s opinions on animal rights and organic food only slip into the narrative a couple of times. This fantasy is packed with excitement and adventure and is a great book to read aloud to a group or for more confident readers to enjoy on their own.