Nancy Bentley (1)

Displeased with her nose—a cute little button affair she considered inappropriate for a witch—Nahzella tried at first to transform this appendage using her spells, only to find that each attempt was unsatisfactory. Deciding to steal the nose of one of the people in town, she set out one day, only to find that every nose she stole—the farmer's long pointy nose, with its penchant for sneezing; the baker's big red nose, with its keen sense of smell; the butcher's wrinkled nose—each had problems of its own. Growing tired, Nahzella began to mix up her spells, until she finally restored everyone's noses (and other features!) to their rightful faces, realizing her nose was just right for her...

An amusing story of a witch who must learn to accept herself, after many hilarious hi-jinks involving swapped body parts, I've Got Your Nose would be an excellent story-time selection, particularly for young children who suffer from similar insecurities about a facial feature of their own. That being said, Nahzella's misadventures here (especially once the dog's nose gets involved) are so humorous that I think that all children who enjoy silly stories will find the book entertaining. The artwork from illustrator Don Madden is colorful, and captures the madcap humor of the story quite well, although my favorite picture is the one at the end, in which Nahzella stands with her broom, O.C. (Old Cat) perched on her hat, proudly wiggling her button nose. All in all, a fun addition to my "witchy witches" project!… (mehr)

This book appealed both to my inner Judy Blume and the English teacher. The authors take the reader through the entire process of publishing a book- from figuring out whether you want to writing fiction or non-fiction to illustrating and promoting. What I like best is that this text falls under the "tricks you into learning" category: explaining characters, setting, cinflict, and esolution. The student is studing the elements of plot without his/her knowledge. Another bonus is the section of editing, a step students frequently ignore. One drawback is that only two pages are devoted to editing-- I owuld like to have seen it emphasized more.… (mehr)