Norman BridwellRezensionen

{My thoughts} – I'm sure by now most parents have heard of Clifford the Big Red Dog. I have watched the tv adaptation numerous times with my older children. I have not however, had the opportunity to introduce the babies to it at this point. I may need to after reading this book with my two year old.

I really enjoyed reading this book with my daughter. She seemed to love it just as much. She was happy and liked looking at all the illustrations. I think she found it interesting that Clifford was so much bigger then Emily Elizabeth in the book. Here at home we have two very small dogs, so she is use to dogs that are smaller then people.

This book is a nice beginner reader. It has short sentences on each page. It has simple illustrations and it is easy to read. I enjoy reading short books to my babies and this one although it has a lot of pages is a short book. My daughter had no issues with sitting on my lap while I'd read through the book with her. The entire time she'd been pointing at the pictures and I was telling her what was what. This book helped to open up a whole new learning experience for her as we were able to go over opposites and some other words that we have not run across in books yet.

I recommend this book for any younger child. It makes a nice story book. It makes a nice beginner reader. If your child decides they like it maybe consider looking into getting some more of the Clifford the Big Red Dog books that have been released in the past.

Independent Reading Level: Kindergarten- 1st grade
Honors/Awards: none

Independent Reading Level: ages 3-7
Awards:Extra Yarn: A Caldecott Honor Award Winner. Zen Ties (A Stillwater and Friends Book). Tonka: Tough, Tougher, Toughest! (10-Button Sound Books).

Christmas

Alphabet

Dog

Independent reading level: grades 1

Independent Reading Level: Grades K-3
Awards: N/A

Children's author and illustrator Norman Bridwell, creator of the classic Clifford the Big Red Dog books, presents a clever and creative witch's catalog in this companion to his series of stories about The Witch Next Door. From a real witch's costume—offered at 50% off—to pet dragons and all of the accoutrements needed to keep them, the items for sale in this catalog are invariably magical. They are also often things for which children would wish. A magic pencil, an invisibility suit, a pillow to give you a selection of good dreams, a spoon to make nasty medicine taste good—the list goes on and on...

Having read and (sometimes) enjoyed the four picture-books and one beginning reader devoted to the witch next door's adventures, I was curious about this companion volume, first published in 1976. I had to track it down via inter-library loan, and I am very glad that I did, as it was immensely engaging. Although not a story book, it has so many story ideas in it, so many magical items that a child or would-be witch might want, that I can imagine young readers poring over it again and again. The accompanying artwork is in black and white, and is in the same cartoon-style as the storybooks, with the witch herself (as well as her human friends) often appearing. Although a little difficult to obtain, I do recommend this one, both to fans of the series and to young children who enjoy witchy fare. It's too bad it's long out of print, as I think it would still have appeal today.

The witch next door goes to school with her two human friends in this beginning reader from 1992, the fifth and final story devoted to her adventures from author/illustrator Norman Bridwell. From show-and-tell to a surprise visit from the Tooth Fairy, playground games at recess to some food-related shenanigans at lunch, the witch makes everything at school magical... even the writing assignments and nature walk!

I've had a bit of an up-and-down experience over the years, reading the five books about this witchy character, as part of my ongoing witchy-witches project. Mostly indifferent to the first—the eponymous The Witch Next Door, first published in 1965—I enjoyed the second (The Witch's Christmas) more, and then actively disliked the third, The Witch's Vacation. My favorite of the first four ended up being the fourth, The Witch Grows Up, mostly because it boasted the most witchy story, of the lot.

Unlike the previous four books, which were all paperback picture-books, The Witch Goes to School is a beginning reader, part of Scholastic's Hello Reader! line. All in all, I found it engaging, and rather fun. I liked the witchy hi-jinks, and the way the titular magic-maker made everything at school fun. I also liked that, in contrast to The Witch's Vacation, where the witch did everything for her young human friends, here she refused to help the young girl with her writing assignment, insisting that it wouldn't be fair, and that the girl should come up with her own ideas. The girl's pride at her subsequent accomplishment is deserved, and offers a contrast to the scene in The Witch's Vacation, in which the children enjoy being at the top of a mountain, after riding the escalator provided by the witch to the top, instead of hiking up themselves, as intended.

The text here is simple, as one would expect, and the artwork has the same cartoon-like style as Bridwell's other books about the witch next door. Although I wouldn't say these books are favorites, from an aesthetic perspective, I did appreciate the scene in which the children are reading in the classroom, and the little boy is holding a copy of Carol Carrick's picture book, Patrick's Dinosaurs. That is a nice little tribute!

In sum: an engaging little book, one which I would recommend to fans of this character, as well as to beginning readers who enjoy witchy fare.

That friendly witch next door returns in this fourth picture-book devoted to her adventures, this time narrating the story of her own girlhood to her two young human friends. The daughter of two witches, she was raised in a loving home with plenty of toys, games and other activities. Sometimes mischievous, always clever, she knew how to deal with bullies, and, when sent to school, made an excellent pupil. In the end though, it was her family life that was most formative...

Debuting in 1965 in author/illustrator Norman Bridwell's The Witch Next Door, this pleasant magic maker would go on to star in three additional picture-books, all published during the 1970s, as well as an early reader (The Witch Goes to School) published much later, in 1992. The four picture-books were originally oblong paperbacks, and had illustrations with a more limited color palette—mostly black and white, with one or two color washes. They were republished in the 1980s as sturdier, square paperback picture-books, with the artwork now full-color. It is these later editions that I have read, as part of my "witchy witches" project.

All that being said, I think that this, The Witch Grows Up (first published in 1979, and in this edition in 1987), is my favorite of the four picture-books I have read about this character. I was mostly indifferent to the first, enjoyed the second (set at Christmas), and greatly disliked the third (The Witch's Vacation). But this one is the best of them all. It is more engaging than its predecessors, perhaps because we get to see the Witch as a little girl, in her family and school circles, leading to a tale that feels more magical, both in its settings and accoutrements, and in its narrative development. It has the added appeal of being clever, in terms of the relationship between text and image. I really enjoyed how the text described things that seemed quite ordinary—the Witch's father tossing her into the air, her jungle gym—only for the artwork to reveal them as extraordinary—the Witch flies off, after being tossed, her jungle gym is made of live gorillas, and so on. The disconnect between text and visual adds to the entertainment here, I think.

Recommended to those who have enjoyed other stories about this character, as well as to picture-book readers with a taste for witchy fare.

I wish this were a larger board book....because it is really fun and sweet! Who doesn't love baby Clifford?

50474

52102

50196

Clifford plays in the snow and helps Santa a little. It's pretty sleepy as far as Clifford books go.

Geez, I flipped through this book so many times as a kid. I was fascinated by the black snow falling over the witch's house and her mission to help Santa Claus . . . IN SPAAAAAACEEEE!

Independent reading level (PK-2)

A board book as big as Clifford! But apparently size doesn't matter, as the flaps and matching games made for a tepid experience.

Summary: A girl with an unique dog. The dog may be different in size but they behave the same as regular dog: do tricks, play games together, and also makes mistakes

Monster-themed dad jokes and puns so laughably bad they almost turn the corner to being good again . . . but not quite. They're just bad. Really bad.

And one of the jokes in this old book has a slur offensive to people with dwarfism or of short stature.

Answers the questions such as: What does the cow say?

When he wasn't working on his cute Clifford books, Norman Bridwell changed it up by tossing out a series of books about the witch next door and a trio of humor books about monsters that basically features the Universal Classic Monsters lineup.

This one is a satirical take on how-to books about pet care that posits everyone is adopting monsters the way they would kittens or puppies. There are way too many corny jokes about Frankenstein's monster, mummies, vampires, and werewolves, and some that occasionally go to darker places, referencing blood sucking and corpse dissection.

I might have enjoyed this as a kid, but as an adult I was bored.

This book is told in just 40 words that are listed on the last page in alphabetical order. I had more fun reading that list out loud than I did all the preceding pages.

I think this is the first Norman Bridwell book I have read that does not begin with some variation on, "Hello, I'm Emily Elizabeth, and this is my dog, Clifford." Indeed, Emily Elizabeth isn't even in here. And, oh my, it sort of seems like Clifford might be auditioning a little boy replacement for her. Fortunately, the boy seems to be a one-time fling.

This is a reader written with less than two dozen words. Not much entertainment here unless you're making fun of it as you go.