Halloween Stew by Jane Meyers

by Jane Slater Meyers, Cecilia Blomberg (Illustrator)

Mean-Witch-Me finds a hiding place where she will cook her ghoulish Halloween Stew and eat every morsel by herself. But hungry creatures spot her giant bright bubbles lighting the night sky. Determined to eat all of her once-a-year treat, she slurps it up fast only to hear the hungry ghosts with flying cats, ravens, and bats heading her way. Shrieking at them and waving her wooden spoon doesn’t work so she zooms off with her stew and everything goes wrong! Mean-Witch-Me finds herself stuck with a broken broom, no stew, and a whole bunch of creatures. With action-filled illustrations this read-aloud story delights the whole family and ends with a treat after all.

30 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2014

About the author

Prompted by an illustration of a witch on a card I thought of Halloween Stew and the rudiments of a story. Something else that prompted this book is my interest in young children’s stories with action, refrain and whimsy.

I was born, and grew up on Long Island in New York as Jane Dwyer, the only girl with four older brothers. Our home was filled with humor, play, dinner table conversations, and an emphasis on education and books.

My career included 30 wonderful years as a teacher and administrator in San Diego, California. I then had six more years working part time with talented women friends at a non-profit called Books and Beyond. We wrote and implemented grants. Can't beat that.

I enjoy being retired and pursuing new avenues such as writing Halloween Stew. My husband Art and I are very involved with our five grandchildren. I cherish living within spitting distant to them and to the two most important women in my life, my daughters and their super duper husbands. Aside from family we enjoy neighbors, friends, and everything from newspapers, to baseball, to theater, music and dance.

Reviews

[Marilyn]

Make room on the Halloween bookshelf for Halloween Stew by San Diego author Jane Slater Meyers. It's Halloween fun, without the scary stuff. Mean-Witch-Me makes her fabulous Halloween stew every year, but she never shares. "Each Halloween I cook my stew. It's all for me and none for you!" This year, however, the bubbles from the boiling stew give away the witch's location, and ghosts, bats, cats and more want their share. Mean-Witch-Me tries to escape, but a crash, a broken broom and magic that stops working spell disaster for her greedy plan. A new state-of-the-art broom and generosity from the creatures gives (no-longer-mean) Mean Witch-Me a new and kinder outlook on life. The rhyming text bounces along, and wonderful illustrations by artist Cecilia Blomberg enhance the fun experience. Excellent read-aloud for young children.
But there's more to this book than the book. For extras, go to the website myhalloweenstew.com You'll find a book preview, the stew recipe, questions for delving into the book contents, plus suggestions for a Halloween Stew party and instructions for making simple "witch brooms" to accompany the stew. Fun for all.

[Jenna]

Halloween Stew is a picture book for Halloween with just enough spook to be fun but not enough to be scary. Mean-Witch-Me makes her own Halloween Stew every year and is excited to enjoy it all by herself in the woods. But the delightful bubbles from the brew attract some unwelcome guests. In the end, Mean-Witch-Me learns the benefits of being not quite so mean after all.

I liked Mean-Witch-Me's classic witchy look, complete with green skin, warty nose, scraggily black hair, and black cloak and a pointy hat, of course. The rhyming prose are a bit clunky at times but the fun Zibble-dee-dibble words add a nice whimsical touch.

**I won this book in a First Reads Giveaway.

[Rebecca Stephen]

I looked the book over before I sent it to my grandsons in Ky. It was so cute and I know they liked it