Ethel Kessler

As Halloween approaches in this entertaining early reader/beginning chapter-book, Grandpa Witch finds himself hosting his two grandchildren, Wanda and Willy, who have come to learn some magic tricks in time for the big night. Although he sometimes bungles his spells, Grandpa Witch does manage to teach the pair a thing or two, including how to fly. But when he shows them his magic dooblelator, a marvelous machine that can duplicate anything, the results are most unexpected. Fortunately, everyone is happy with the idea of two of Wanda and two of Willy, and the children head out to enjoy Halloween night...

Published in 1981 by Macmillan, Grandpa Witch and the Magic Doobelator was part of that publisher's Ready-to-Read collection, and is a very basic chapter-book (essentially, an early reader in chapters). I initially sought it out because of my interest in witchy picture-books, early readers and other illustrated texts, but felt that co-author Leonard Kessler's name sounded very familiar, for some reason. Imagine my surprise and delight to discover that he was the author/illustrator of Last One In Is a Rotten Egg, an I Can Read book that I really loved as a girl. That association is a welcome one, but I enjoyed this tale for its own sake, appreciating the mixed-up magic of Grandpa Witch, and the fact that in this magical world, incorrectly done spells result in a cat appearing. Needless to say, our grandfatherly witch had a lot of cats! I also appreciated that Grandpa is a male witch, as this is something I rarely see in witchy tales. Usually, male magical practitioners are called wizards, magicians or sorcerers, but every once in a while you get a male witch, and it is always interesting. I enjoyed the artwork here as much as the story, and particularly liked the depiction of the many cats. All in all, a sweet, engaging early-reader, one I would recommend to beginning readers who enjoy witchy fare with a humorous, rather than a spooky feeling.… (mehr)