Spooky Spots

Odd Jobs

by Brigitte Henry Cooper, Elena Napoli (Illustrations)

Ella has moved to the spooky town of Windy Hollow to live with her Great Aunt Raven. She is kept busy by a series of odd jobs arranged by her mysterious aunt. When Madame Pintuck enlists her help scrubbing soiled laundry Ella is less than enthused. Then a stubborn stain on a delicate dress resists Ella's efforts at removal. But the woman who arrives to collect does not seem to notice the flawed fabric! Aligned to Common Core standards and correlated to state standards. Spellbound is an imprint of Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO.

48 pages, Library Binding

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Karen]

Ella is painting in her Aunt's garden when her Great Aunt Raven summons her to perform an odd job for a local seamstress. All is well until Ella finds a wedding dress with red stains on the bodice that refuse to come out! Her best efforts are futile, but a woman appears before her and tells her that the stains will never come out. This mysterious woman in white tells Ella a story about a woman who's groom died on their wedding day and then she disappears. The seamstress tells Ella the rest of the sad story.

Not a lot of detail or character development makes this early chapter book an easy read for beginners. Sentences are constructed in a brief fashion and the text is kept large and readable. The illustrations are bright, colorful, and feel directed at an early reader audience. They are well done with large expressive eyes, almost disney-esque. The premise is a fun way to tell ghost stories as Ella helps people in her Aunt's acquaintance. The storyteller uses some interesting devices, like foreshadowing to give early readers a taste of literature to come.

[Ashlyn]

I liked this but there wasn’t quite enough for me to love it. I’m intrigued to see what happens in the rest of the series for Ella.

[Dawn]

Love this series. The author does a great job with the stories and the illustrations match perfectly! My 5th graders will love this book.