Prudence Hayes

This was the story of a little witch who rescued her town from darkness and sadness. She caught the responsible witch and forced her to remove the spell. Catching the girl responsible was easy and quick. There was almost no conflict or suspense. The story was told as a story within a story. Hazel spoke directly to the reader about how brave and wonderful she was saving the town but it didn’t seem as though there was any risk involved.

The problem that needed to be solved did not carry the story line very well. The most interesting part was the character named Fred who liked to pretend he was a statue. There is an incongruity between the plot of the story and the writing style. The vocabulary and structure of this picture book seems suited for an older child but the story itself suits preschoolers. The build up Hazel created was not met by the overly simplistic sequence of events. I would give the narration a two out of five.

The pictures, however, are well done and Hazel is an endearing character. I would give the illustrations a four out of five.

The author needs to either change the vocabulary to match the simplicity of the plot or develop the story to the level of the vocabulary.

An ebook copy of this picture book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.… (mehr)