Little Witch Goes to School

Little Witch #3

by Deborah Hautzig

Little Witch wants to go to school just like her friends, but her mother thinks she should stay home and learn from her witchy aunts. Mother Witch finally agrees to let Little Witch go, but only if she promises to be very, very bad.

It's a wild ride on a broomstick that kids won't soon forget! The third book in the popular Little Witch series, "Little Witch Goes to School" has all the mixed-up magic and quirky humor kids have come to love in the first two books.

Genres: Childrens, Halloween, Picture Books, Fantasy, School, Fiction, Witches

48 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 1998

Reviews

[La Coccinelle]

Wow. Things have changed since the late '90s. I don't know if a book like this would get published today. Aside from encouraging bad behaviour, the book also minimizes verbal abuse and makes fun of those with intellectual disabilities.

Little Witch is bored because she has nothing to do. Her mother wants her to hang out with her horrible aunts (who do things like throw eggs at the mailman), but when Little Witch isn't nasty enough for their liking, she gets sent back to her mother, who yells at her some more. So she's sent to do something with Cousin Dippy, who's "always doing something stupid" (in fact, she's trying to tape the leaves back onto the branches of a tree because she "doesn't understand about Fall"). Fed up with her family, Little Witch begs to go to school. Her mother relents, on the condition that she behave horribly and not make any friends. Well, of course Little Witch is a model pupil and makes a ton of friends, bringing them all back to her house after school. Her mother gets angry and tells Little Witch to get rid of them. So Little Witch uses a spell to zap them all home. Then her mother tells her she's proud of her for breaking her promise not to make any friends (because it's bad to break a promise... and it's good to be bad).

I just don't like the message here. Kids might think it's funny, but I don't like Cousin Dippy's disability being used for laughs (even her name is offensive) and the verbal abuse dished out by Mother Witch makes me cringe (yelling seems to be the only way she can communicate). While some of the pictures are cute (I especially like Little Witch's coffin-shaped lunchbox), they're not enough to enable me to overlook the more problematic aspects of the story.

For better tales of a little witch, try Patricia Coombs's Dorrie the Little Witch books.

[Abigail]

Deborah Hautzig's Little Witch, that endearing young magical practitioner whose good behavior always seems to land her in trouble with her disappointed mother, who expects less niceness from a witch, returns in this third early reader devoted to her adventures. Hoping to be allowed to go to school with her friends, Little Witch makes a bargain with her mother, promising to be bad. But there's only so much a good little witch can do, and her first day in Ms. Brooks' class is both productive and happy. Will Mother Witch forgive her for breaking her promise...?

After first appearing in 1984, in the early reader Little Witch's Big Night , and then again in 1985, in Happy Birthday, Little Witch , Little Witch disappeared for more than a decade before popping up again in this title, which was first published in 1998. She's still the same good little girl though, and the conclusion of the story, in which Mother Witch is pleased, because her daughter has broken her promise (thereby doing something bad!), continues the storytelling technique of the first two books, in which common childhood realities - the importance placed on being good, on keeping promises, even on limiting sweets! - is reversed in our witchy heroine's family. Sweet and entertaining, Little Witch Goes to School is an appealing addition to Hautzig's series, and an excellent selection for beginning readers who enjoy witchy tales.

[Amy]

Little Witch has a fun first day at school.

[Cal]

TITLE: Little witch goes to school
AUTHOR: Deborah Hautzig
ILLUSTRATOR: Sylvie Wickstrom
Review Title: A not so Scary Witch

SETTING: A school
STORY: Little Witch is bored, and asks her mom if she can to school. Her mom screams, NO! Little Witch says she will be bad and Mother Witch agrees. Little Witch on the other hand makes lots of new friends, learns things and everybody likes her. She trades them for mixed up crayons, gives them her candy for lunch, and rides them on her broomstick. Little Witch cries because school is over but remembers she can come back tomorrow. Mother Witch is mad at Little Witch for making friends, but she's also very proud that she disobeyed the order.
1. BEGINNING: Little Witch is bored
2. MIDDLE: She goes to school
3. END: Mother Witch is proud she disobeyed her, and made friends even though she promised not to

WRITING STYLE: Narrative
ILLUSTRATION STYLE: Watercolor

MAIN CHARACTER: Little Witch
Needs, could use, or wants: wants something to do

MAIN CONFLICT: Little Witch is bored
CONCLUSION: She goes to school
MESSAGE: Don't judge a witch by their background

FAVORITE PART: Little Witch exchanges candy for half of a sandwich
FAVORITE CHARACTER: Little Witch or Bow-Wow

EASY TO READ Step into reading step three

WHY RECOMMEND Fun and Silly
TARGET AUDIENCE 1st grade
RATING 10/10

[Jonathan Jasinski]

Read this for a class teaching kids English, and the morals are just kinda confused- I get what it’s trying to do, but I don’t think kids will. Meanwhile the magic words (flippity dippity and whatnot) make it a less-than-ideal pick for teaching English. I found it kinda entertaining, but I wouldn’t necessarily have my kid have at it- just because lil witch likes backwards things doesn’t mean an actual kid will suddenly start liking school, and the end moral is funny but a bit messed (it’s good to break a promise!).

I don’t take it all as seriously as some other reviewers do, but at the same time- there’s gotta be better choices if you’re looking to instill morals, and it’s nothing special in terms of general enjoyment. My students just found it kinda whatever- no great joy when it came time for the fiction portion of the day, no great love for Little Witch. Not sure what makes great young children’s fiction, but this doesn’t seem to be it.

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter]

Little Witch is lonely after her friends have all started to attend school. But luckily Mother Witch allows her to attend. There’s some silliness as Little Witch, teacher, and classmates learn about each other. Little Witch’s spells are funny and cute. There’s definitely some possible issues with language use/themes, particularly “cousin dippy” and the word stupid. It’s certainly not as refined or conscious of the changing social norms between now and its published date.

[Arika]

The little witch goes to school is about a little witch who wants nothing more than to attend school, to make friends, and to play. When she gets allowed to go to school she shows off her magic powers and follows all the rules and plays so much she doesn't want the school day to end. The little witch is about the different things every student brings into our classrooms.

[Cathy]

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...#
This book was fun, she is a good witch and her family are all bad Witches. Her Mother didn't want her to be good, but little witch said to her can I go to school if I'm bad. She said yes so she went to school and had a great time. Be sure and find this book to read.

[Our Weekend Is Booked]

We liked that Little Witch ended up being a nice witch (unlike her mother and aunts who wish she was bad). It's a cute story and really also explains some of the things you can expect going to school.

[Lu]

This was kind of funny, but Mostly just cute. About a good little witch whose family wants her to be mean and bad.

My favorite page/illustration is p.5 where the mother witch is making spaghetti and mouseballs because of the look on the mouse’s face.

[Bree Sotirovich]

It was a perfect book for my 9 year old who has to do AR reading and testing at school. She enjoyed the story as did I. The length was perfect with just the right amount of details to use for retelling and comprehension.

[JS]

Funny but you might lose your appetite. It is spaghetti and mouseballs this time. Yuck! :D

[Samantha]

It was a decently cute story and I like Little Witch, but I don't like how the adult witches are "bad" or "stupid".

[Chinnakaruppan]

I liked the part were she had fun with her friends in school

[Adrianne Rosal]

Very , very cute book!!!!!

[Set]

Very Cute, perfect for Halloween.

[nina]

🥹🧙🏻‍♀️🔮💗

[Fyre.Katz]

Really good read!

[Thera Grady]

My daughter and I read this together. It's a fun little twist on being a good person at school...the mother witch wants the little witch to be bad and not make friends, and she gives her a lunchbox full of candy for lunch to help her teeth rot! It's funny, but not too snarky. My daughter who admits that she herself has a bit of a wicked side, enjoyed this story. :)

[Mr. Tedrow]

kaitlyn
little witch goes to school. but mother witch thinks
she should stay home and learn from aunt grouchy,aunt nasty
and cousin dippy. will little witch ever learn how to be
BAD- or will she get her wish? I liked this book. it was
a good book!

[Andrea Thomas, Greenville]

This book is an easy and funny book to read. It would be a great book to use when teaching antonyms, since Mother Witch wants little witch to do everything the opposite of what we usually do. This would be a fun book to read at the beginning of the year as a back to school book.

[Jeanette Nichol]

Good book

My niece enjoyed this book, read it all the way through. recommended for the readers that may be struggling to read longer stories, kept her focused on reading with the magic.

[Rosa Cline]

This is a cute little book...where Little Witch wants to be a good witch but her family are 'bad' ones and they expect her to do only bad things but she turns things around where she does what she feels is right and is happy and her family are happy with her.

[Mary Dye]

I enjoyed this book because it was just enough chapter book that a student could work on their reading comprehension, but it was overwhelming. There were still pictures throughout and the illustrations explained what was happening for those that needed more explanation.

[Dolly]

This is a sweet book about a little witch who doesn't want to be bad. The narrative is simple and good for developing readers and the illustrations are fun. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Pinky]

Little Witch promises she'll be bad in order to go to school.

[Melissa]

Still love

[Fusspot]

I loved Aunt Dippy.

[Scarce]

FUNNY! A Must Read!

[Jeffrey Gao]

Man, this makes me feel Akko Kagari would so get along with Little Witch.