Janet McCaffery

A cruel and greedy witch, Fifinella lived by the swamp, where she would regularly hunt for the poor little creatures she used in her various trouble-making concoctions and brews. Capturing and killing far more than she needed for her immediate projects, she eventually found that she had made the swamp a wasteland. Only one little mole remained, of all the creatures that had once lived there. This tiny animal, finding himself captured as well, managed to convince Fifinella that there was a better way: using the swamp's plants to make healing concoctions...

I have read and enjoyed a number of picture-books illustrated by Janet McCaffery, from Mary Calhoun's The Witch of Hissing Hill to Lee Bennett Hopkins' Hey-How for Halloween!, but The Swamp Witch is the first picture-book I have encountered that was written by her as well. Published in 1970, it would appear to be the only picture-book McCaffery ever wrote. The narrative is engaging, if a bit predictable for a reader in 2021, but I wonder whether the ecological message here, about conserving resources and using only what is needed, felt new and fresh at the time of publication. Either way, I enjoyed the story of Fifinella's reform - well, her seeming reform, as it is questionable whether she would keep to the straight and narrow without the mole to remind her of her promise - and I absolutely loved the artwork. Done in linoleum block prints, the illustrations here are striking - dark-toned but somehow vivid, expressive but stylized - and greatly added to my enjoyment. Highly recommended to picture-book readers who enjoy witchy fare, particularly of a spookier, vintage kind; as well as to those who appreciate linoleum block-print artwork.… (mehr)