Nanny Noony and the Magic Spell - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 1 When the farmer's cat returns home one morning, he finds that suddenly, the cow won't give milk, the hens won't lay, the sheep is going bald, and the pig is ailing. The farmer and his wife quarrel over who is at fault for this chaos. Striking out for calmer pastures, the cat soon meets up with a red-eyed blackbird who informs him that Nanny Noony has hexed the farm. He finds Nanny Noony in her hollow tree house, but she denies any knowledge of the hexing and in turn accuses the blackbird, "Ol' Evil Eye," who is after the Book of Potions that she keeps tied to her head. The plot is complicated but is held together with rhymes and repetition which add a folkloric flavor to the text. Frascino's large, colorful pen and watercolor illustrations are filled with vigor and will carry well to large groups, while individual readers will delight in the humorous details of the drawings. Starr LaTronica, North Berkeley Library, Calif.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Things are just not the same down on the farm. The cow won't give milk, the hen won't lay eggs and the sheep is going bald. All the other animals are cantankerous, as are the farmer and his wife. Only the wily cat has the wherewithal to get to the bottom of things, and ventures away from the farm. A crow claims that an old witch, Nanny Noony, has put a hex on the farm. Using the information gleaned from the crow, the cat hopes to obtain the book of potions Nanny Noony keeps tied to the top of her head with a kerchief. But the crow turns out to be the real demon, defeated when the cat and Nanny Noony (along with some luck) join forces. Frascino brings the same crazy magic to this book that he displayed in My Cousin the King. The colorful and loose-flowing cartoons keep the action moving at a brisk pace and an unexpected turn of events and surprise ending will keep children spellbound until the very last page. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.