Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
City Witch, Country Switch
Illustrator: Scott Gibala- Broxholm
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 8
Marshall Cavendish, 2008 ISBN: 978-0761454298
One night Mitzi the city witch is flying home when she sees that her window is wide open. When she lands inside her room, Mitzi sees a witch sitting on the floor who announces that she is Muffletump, Mitzi’s country witch cousin. The witches talk late into the night until they are “beat.” Muffletump tries to sleep on the couch but the softness of her bed and the street noise keeps her awake. Quickly she casts a spell and soon the room is full of sheep who sooth Muffletump to sleep.
The next day Mitzi shows Muffletump around the city. The county witch finds the air too dirty and the bus too crowded. She casts two spells to make the city more countrified and therefore more comfortable for her.
Muffletump isn’t in the city long before she decides that it is time to go back to the country where she belongs. Keen to see what life in the country is like, Mitzi decides to go with her cousin. Unfortunately, Mitzi doesn’t take to country life any better than her cousin took to city life. Will the two witches have to go their separate ways forever?
It is not easy to get used to being in a place where things are strange and different. In this amusing picture book, readers will meet two witches who want so much to be close but whose lifestyles are not compatible. Readers will laugh when they see how the two witches solve their problems.
