The Old Witch and the Ghost Parade

The Old Witch #9

by Ida DeLage, Jody Taylor (Illustrator)

Irate at not winning first prize in the Halloween contest, the old witch has her revenge

Genres: Halloween, Picture Books

47 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1978

Reviews

[Abigail]

I was initially quite excited to discover this title, one of a series of picture-books about the Old Witch - there appear to have been fourteen, although Ida DeLage published a variety of other (possibly related?) witchy titles, from 1966 onward - as I had never heard of it before, and was eager to become acquainted with its witchy heroine. Unfortunately, I found the narrative uninspiring, the main character nasty (and not in an entertaining way), and the illustrations cartoonishly unappealing.

The Old Witch and the Ghost Parade follows its eponymous heroine as she prepares for Halloween, enchanting a pumpkin, scaring off some children, and preparing to enter the village ghost parade, in hopes of winning the prize. When she fails in her effort, and comes in second place instead, she storms off in a huff... All of which is related by DeLage in a curiously flat manner that seems calculated to rob it of any interest. Put simply, I couldn't work up any enthusiasm for the story, and given my feelings about the artwork - it has a 1970s cartoon-style that holds little appeal for me - I think I'll give the others in the series a pass.

Addendum: Having subsequently read some of the other titles in DeLage's series, I think this one just didn't appeal to me. A number of different artists worked on the series, and some of them produced volumes that I appreciated far more than this, aesthetically speaking.

[Meredith]

The Old Witch enters the children’s Halloween Ghost Parade in the nearby town.

This picture book / early reader is somewhat dated and probably won’t appeal to modern sensibilities. It uses comically old school witch stereotypes and features a vaguely scary but mostly wholesome adventure, accompanied by campy old-fashioned illustrations. Fans of 1970s style artwork will appreciate this book’s illustrations, which are pen and ink with the tricolor palette of black, orange, and green.

I did chuckle at the ending where the witch is reading a book of children’s ghosts stories that she finds scary. I also liked the sequence in which the witch’s enlargement spell makes the pumpkins inflate like balloons and then pop.

[Jessica]

My seven-year-old daughter loves this book and will re-read it over and over and over again. It is not the most inspired story and will likely not keep adults super interested in it. But as long as it keeps my daughter interested, I don’t really care.

[Helena C]

sooooooo cuteeeeeeee

[Erin Hannan]

I just really love that everyone wins! I loved everything about it. This book it witch approved!

[Becca]

Several years ago I made this book into a Readers' Theater. This year I had 3rd graders perform it. The ones who were cast as the children and the farmer particularly liked the part where I had them hold a pumpkin cutout and walk in a circle around the performer's chairs as a parade. It is always amazing to hear some of the children read with great expression and use funny voices to portray their character.