A black witch's hat against a white background, with yellow stars on the top of the hat and a red band.
Jessica Scott

TBR Friday: Witches, Witches, Everywhere

Happy Friday, and welcome to my inaugural TBR roundup! Every week, I’ll post some of the books from my TBR pile that I’m most excited to read. If you have any recommendations for me or if you want to share some of your TBR picks, please let me know in the comments!

I can’t guarantee that I’ll always have a theme for these posts, but for some reason I’m all about the witches this week:

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor; cover illustration by Jillian Tamaki and design by Jim Hoover

A young woman wears a headwrap, a black top, and a black and white wrapped skirt with her arms outstretched. Flowing lines of yellow, blue, and peach appear behind her.
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. Image: A young woman wears a headwrap, a black top, and a black and white wrapped skirt with her arms outstretched. Flowing lines of yellow, blue, and peach appear behind her.

An #OwnVoices story about a Nigerian-American teen witch learning about her powers and trying to hunt down a magical serial killer? YES PLEASE.

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re about to meet a new favorite author? I get that feeling about Nnedi Okorafor, and I’m very excited to start reading her books. She’s also going to be writing the new Shuri comic book series from Marvel in October, which is going to be incredible. Like pretty much everybody else, Shuri was one of my favorite parts of the film Black Panther, and Nnedi Okorafor seems like the perfect writer for that project.

The Lunch Witch by Deb Lucke

A large woman wears a brown dress and a white apron. Bats circle around her head as she glowers and holds a spatula. The text appears on her apron and skirt: "The Lunch Witch by Deb Lucke."
Image: A large woman wears a brown dress and a white apron. Bats circle around her head as she glowers and holds a spatula. The text appears on her apron and skirt: “The Lunch Witch by Deb Lucke.”

The premise of the book is hilarious: Grunhilda is a witch whose family has specialized in cooking “potfuls of foul brew” for generations, but since no one believes in magic anymore, she has to find a job in the real world. Her only skill is cooking horrible, disgusting things, so her career path is obvious: she becomes a lunch lady. (With apologies to the real lunch ladies of the world — my mother-in-law is a former lunch lady and she is an excellent cook.) Plus, I love graphic novels, and Deb Lucke’s unique art style looks really intriguing.

Baba Yaga’s Assistant by Marika McCoola and Emily Carroll

Baba Yaga has blue skin; black eyes; white hair; a long, sharp nose; and sharp teeth. She wears a blue cloak and stands against a purple background with a purple house with chicken feet. Text: "Baba Yaga's Assistant. Marika McCoola. illustrated by Emily Carroll."
Image: Baba Yaga has blue skin; black eyes; white hair; a long, sharp nose; and sharp teeth. She wears a blue cloak and stands against a purple background with a purple house with chicken feet. Text: “Baba Yaga’s Assistant. Marika McCoola. illustrated by Emily Carroll.”

I’m a huge fan of Emily Carroll — her graphic novel Through the Woods is delightfully creepy — so I was thrilled to find that she had illustrated another spooky book, especially one featuring Baba Yaga, who is hands down my favorite fairy tale character. (Mild warning: there is some very light cursing at that link. Normally I wouldn’t even post a warning, but since this is a site about children’s literature, I wanted to err on the side of caution.)

Little Witch’s Zoomin’ Broom by Rosa von Feder and Anoosha Syed

A tiny witch with brown skin and pink hair rides a broom with her black cat behind her. A bat flies next to her against a bluish-purple background with stars. All of them are smiling. Orange text: "Little Witch's Zoomin' Broom!"
Little Witch’s Zoomin’ Broom by Rosa von Feder and Anoosha Syed. Image: A tiny witch with brown skin and pink hair rides a broom with her black cat behind her. A bat flies next to her against a bluish-purple background with stars. All of them are smiling. Orange text: “Little Witch’s Zoomin’ Broom!”

I haven’t reviewed any board books yet, and I’m anxious to remedy that. Plus, Anoosha Syed’s art looks so cute, I just want to gobble it up. I’m getting a strong Mary Blair vibe from her work, which is the fastest way to my heart.

Confession: I broke down and ordered this book earlier today. I tell you, this blog is killing my book budget. I really shouldn’t be trusted around beautifully illustrated children’s books, because I will buy them ALL.

Seeking a Witch by Angela DiTerlizzi and Allie Smith

A smiling with with green skin and purple hair holds a smiling black cat. The background is orange with smiling white ghosts and spiderwebs. Text: "Seeking a Witch by Angela DiTerlizzi illustrated by Allie Smith."
Image: A smiling with with green skin and purple hair holds a smiling black cat. The background is orange with smiling white ghosts and spiderwebs. Text: “Seeking a Witch by Angela DiTerlizzi illustrated by Allie Smith.”

This is another board book that I’m excited to read. Allie Smith’s bold, clean lines really appeal to me, and I love how bright and cheerful the Halloween colors are. I kind of want to get a copy of this just to decorate my desk at work.

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

A smiling witch with white skin holds a wand and a cauldron. She wears a black hat and cape, a red shirt, and a purple skirt. A smiling orange and black cat rides in front of her. The background is green woods, a blue night sky, and a yellow moon. Text: "Room on the Broom. Julia Donaldson. Axel Scheffler."
Image: A smiling witch with white skin holds a wand and a cauldron. She wears a black hat and cape, a red shirt, and a purple skirt. A smiling orange and black cat rides in front of her. The background is green woods, a blue night sky, and a yellow moon. Text: “Room on the Broom. Julia Donaldson. Axel Scheffler.”

I feel like I’m not allowed in the cool kids’ club until I’ve read this book — it’s obviously quite the phenomenon. Originally published as a picture book, it was adapted into a board book and into a movie that was nominated for the 2014 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film! I love animation, so I’m really looking forward to reading this and then checking out the film.

That’s it for this week. Do you have any witchy recommendations for me? Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

One comment

  1. Nice post! If you are looking for witch books of all genres you should try The Wicked Deep and I’ve also heard great things about the Hocus Pocus sequel. I’m saving that book for October. ( I wanted to comment on WordPress now even though this was on Twitter. 😉 )

    Liked by 1 person

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