Die kleine Hexe hat Geburtstag

Lotje/Lizzy #2

by Lieve Baeten, Angelika Kutsch (Translator)

Lisbet, die kleine Hexe, hat Geburtstag. Klar, dass sie den auch feiern will. Mit einer richtig schönen Geburtstagstorte. Und weil Backen nicht ihre Sache ist und Zaubern schließlich gelernt sein will, besorgt Lisbet sich die Torte in Hexendorf. Als sie zurückkommt, ist ihre Katze verschwunden. Ohne Katze kann Lisbet aber unmöglich Geburtstag feiern. Was nun, kleine Hexe?

Genres: Picture Books, Witches, Childrens, Fantasy, Halloween, Magic

28 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Lieve Baeten was a Flemish author and illustrator, best known for her picture-book series about Lotje, the curious little witch. She studied graphic design at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts, and married Koen Fossey in 1976.

Baeten's stories about Lotje (Patou in French, Die kleine Hexe in German, and Lizzie in English) have been translated into fourteen languages, and the author/artist has received several important prizes, from the "Boekenpauw" in 1993 for Nieuwsgierige Lotje (The Curious Little Witch), to the "Kinderboekwinkelprijs" in 1995 for Lotje is Jarig (Happy Birthday, Little Witch!).

Baeten was killed in a car accident in 2001.

Reviews

[♡ Sonja Rosa Lisa ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Die kleine Hexe Lisbet hat Geburtstag. Im Hexendorf kauft sie eine Geburtstagstorte, denn backen zählt nicht zu ihren Stärken. Als sie zurück nach Hause kommt, ist aber ihre kleine Katze verschwunden. Lisbet sucht sie, denn ohne ihre Katze kann sie nicht ihren Geburtstag feiern!
💜 Eine sehr süße Geschichte für Kinder ab drei. Die Geschichte an sich ist schon zauberhaft, aber die Illustrationen im Buch sind es auch. Sehr liebevoll und voller Details, so dass das Anschauen schon sehr viel Spaß macht!

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, very cute and fun, illustrations are full of marvelous details (love the peek-through, lift-the-flap doors) and the ending is delightful. Would have been four stars for me except for the Witch Pet Store -- the animals look happy, but I hated seeing a creature like a ring-tail lemur in a cage-- I suppose the book IS about witches, so not sure this having wild animals for pets is really condoned, but it did bother me.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lizzy, that curious little witch with a penchant for flying straight into adventure, returns in this second picture-book - see The Curious Little Witch for the first installment of her story - originally published in Dutch as Lotje is jarig. As the title suggests, it is Lizzy's birthday, and determined to honor the day, she sets out for Witch Village, to buy herself a cake. Upon her return, she discovers that she has misplaced her feline companion, Cat, and a frantic search ensues, as she revisits each of the stops on her trip - the Witch Village Market, the Witch This-'n'-That Shop, the Witch Pet Store - in an effort to locate her. When no Cat is forthcoming, Lizzy is beyond dejected. Has her birthday been ruined, or is a delightful surprise in store...?

Given the kind of sweet witchy tales that Flemish author Lieve Baeten penned, there's never much doubt as to the answer to that question, but getting to that happy ending is half the fun! Although usually wise to the ways of wily picture-book creators, I was caught off guard by Happy Birthday, Little Witch!, not guessing until the very end just why all the witches seemed so indifferent to Lizzy's plight, and kept insisting that they had no time to help her look. Obviously, they needed to prepare for Lizzy's surprise party!. Like the other titles featuring Lizzie and her magical adventures, this one included some interesting paper engineering, in the form of little liftable flaps, in place of the doors that Lizzy must enter. The artwork itself is just as adorable as in the first two installments, making this a worthy follow-up! Highly recommend to young readers with a taste for witchy tales, and to anyone who enjoyed the other stories of Lizzy. I only hope the rest of the collection is translated into English!

[Matthieu Wegh · Rating 4 out of 5]

? Vroeger vaker voorgelezen aan mijn dochter en ook de laatste jaren nog een of twee keer gebruikt bij het voorlezen.
#fantasy
🤔Het verhaal is leuk en de tekeningen daarbij zijn prachtig.
MW29/7/24

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a slightly different book of Baeten's. The special pages are not foldouts this time but diecut doorways. The right hand page has the door you open to see into the store. Turn the page and you see the store and then open the door on the left and see the little witch peeking in.

The plot is that it is her birthday but her cat is missing. She needs to find her cat before she can eat her cake. I was sad because it seemed odd that she was going to eat cake alone with her cat but nothing ever really bothers her. And of course, it turned out nice in the end.

[Alex Matzkeit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich glaube der Plot "Ich habe Geburtstag, keiner hat Zeit für mich und am Ende kommt raus, dass sie alle eine Überraschungsparty für mich schmeißen" wird nie alt, auch wenn ich seiner langsam etwas müde bin. Lieve Baetens kleine Hexe ist niedlich, die Bilder stecken voller schöner kleiner Details und die Geschichte ist abgesehen vom etwas merkwürdigen Start gut zum Vorlesen. Die Türen der Läden, die als Gucklöcher funktionieren sind ein schöner Zusatz-Touch. Es ist alles sehr nett, aber dadurch auch wenig besonders.

[J.M. Northup · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it!

I read this with my preschool-aged granddaughter, and she was smitten. She'd just told me books were "boring" -to which I said, "you've just not found the right one yet." After a brief hunt in our local library, this was her choice, and it was magical!

The pop-open doors were a winner. The tantalizing views of "what could be inside?" delighted her, and often surprised her (as intended). She no longer thought books dull.

This book is the reason she excited asked to get her library card, so yeah, I definitely recommend this book!

[Emily Beese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy Birthday Little Witch talked about a little witch feeling lonely on her birthday because she can't find her cat. I thought this book was good because it is cute. It would be a good book for Haloween. The art in it is not too flashy which gives it a more real feeling. Another thing I liked about this book is that it is interactive. The Child gets to open up doors throughout the book to look for the cat. Overall, this book is cute and I would incorporate it into my classroom in the future.

[Lauri Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's lizzy's birthday but she can't find her cat. She searches all cat's favorite places. Peek through windows look like parts of cat but turn out to be other things. Everyone is too busy to help. She is sad but returns home to find a surprise party and cat.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book with adorable illustrations and a cute story! I enjoyed the little door flaps in the book. They surprised me because I had no idea this book had flaps until I started reading! I love when a book has flaps and I loved this book.

[Kristen Dutkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Especially loved the idea of reading this to a child whose birthday is close to Halloween! Cute idea.

[Nasima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Einfach beste Illustrationen.
Liebs.

[LadyGwethelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5*

Sehr süß. Nur bleibt unklar, wo die Katze sich eigentlich versteckt hatte.

[Jvermeersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zoals de andere van Lotje!

[Sheila]

Wonderful! This book felt like home in my childhood days.

[Caro Serneels]

5-jarigen: Verjaardag

[anahita]

beautifully illustrated and planning to read more of the little witch series

[Loes Houwer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heerlijk

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lizzy the Little Witch's beloved cat has gone missing and readers can help her look for the cat by opening doors (flaps) in the book. Every little glimpse of the cat turns out to be something else and nobody has time to help Lizzy search for her cat because they're all too busy planning her surprise birthday party!

This is one of my favorite premises for a picture book: the search for an object, the detailed pictures, the happy ending. Upon a second reading or perhaps upon a first reading with close attention it is apparent that the pictures of the busy witches reveal pieces of the happpy ending (the surprise birthday party). Overall, this is a great addition to the collection of Halloween picture books and stands out among the pack for me. My only complaint is that the text is a bit small, and while that detail doesn't make it for me it certainly doesn't break it either.

[Liselotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, my nickname is Lotje (just like the witch's name in the Dutch versions) and it's my birthday week so obviously, I had to re-read this!

The Witch Lotje (as again, the Dutch titles are) were my favourite books as a child, and now that I'm an adult I still love them with all my heart! A cute little story about our little witch on the hunt for her cat, because she lost it. By the means of little flaps children can interact with the book and try to look for Poes on every page.

A really fun and cute story, incredibly whimsical drawings, and just the best, so happy to finally have these in my possession!

[Joella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun story Little Witch's birthday. However, the open the flap doors are flimsy enough that unless a young readers is careful, they will get torn. Also, when the flaps open they need to stay open so that you can see the characters on both sides. Fun book, but not very practical for the library. I don't think it will last long around here.

[Ruth Govaerts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lotje en haar kat zijn de leukste en joligste personages die je kan terugvinden in eender welk prentenboek, neem dat van me aan!

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the English version, but I couldn't find it on here so I marked the German version.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter loves all these books in this series!

[Mips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nederlandse titel "Lotje is jarig"