I read my 5yr old goodnight stories every night, and some months ago I realized that 5 might be the right age to start reading longer things. I tried Winnie the Pooh, but the chapters were a touch too long. I tried Captain Underpants, but he just…wasn’t into it. It was Halloween season, and he’d been talking about witches and spells, so I thought, maybe… And it took a few days (where he tried to pick other things and I demanded that I *also* get a pick, and this was mine), but he ultimately warmed up to it, mostly, I suspect, because I gave Abraxas the Raven an entertaining voice. But it was so fun to read something longer together! He actually started asking for multiple chapters a night, and so there was the pleasure of anticipation to be added as well.
I was also glad to read this in particular, because it’s a little spicy for a children’s book, by American standards — there’s lots of bad behavior, including some epic beat-downs. And I needed that bracing reminder of the protectionist forces of US parenting culture. This is the kind of stuff I read as a kid — Astrid Lindgren, Roald Dahl, Jan Brzechwa, etc. It makes for good stories! Kids need a little excitement. And it’s worth pointing out, I suppose, that there is a positive moral lesson overall, but it’s playfully done.
As you might expect from a German children’s book from the 1950s, it has some racist moments, mercifully localized to two chapters, and pretty easily edited out on the fly if you’re reading aloud (it’s a carnival scene with a full array of offensive costumes). Yes, I’m more comfortable with my child reading about the protagonist getting beaten up than with “Chinese girl” costumes. We all draw our own lines, those are mine.
Anyways, we enjoyed it. It’s a fun little story about a witch having various encounters with different kinds of people, casting spells, etc. The chapters are perfectly structured for kids with a short attention span — short and highly eventful. I’ve been feeling a little at sea, trying to figure out what chapter books will be entertaining for my kid and I to read together, and this was a real treat.
Kasia Reads 