Midnight Magic Witch Trap

Michelle Harrison’s magical little story is a perfect lesson in how to write for newly independent readers. The story fizzes along in verse that is both a help to young readers working out the words, and a pleasure for adults to read aloud (sadly not always the case with rhyming texts), and is delightfully inventive. Trixie and her witch’s kitten Midnight have great fun playing the make-believe games loved by all children, but they can take things to a higher level thanks to Midnight’s magic and a pile of leaves can be transformed into a real-live leaf dragon they can ride round the garden. The dragon is there to help them too when Midnight is kidnapped by a witch. In a twist that also delivers for the audience, the witch is revealed to be sad not bad, and is helped by our young heroes to find a new, more satisfying way of life, running a bookshop no less. The sparkle of the story is more than matched by Elissa Elwick’s illustrations, in vibrant black and orange, making this a bewitching package.