When the witch's three children show up at the park one day, the pigeons and squirrels - who know what to expect from this trouble-making trio - decamp to the trees with all possible haste. Their trepidation proves more than justified when the three children make chaos with their improperly understood magic: first they turn young Gemma into a frog, in order to allow her to retrieve her toy boat from the pond, and then they turn them (the pigeons and squirrels), as well as the ice cream lady and her truck, into the characters and accoutrements of a fairy-tale, in order to transform Gemma from a frog into a prince. Unable to reverse their spells, the two elder children are stymied. The youngest however, who has been hilariously entertained by the goings on, knows a piece of magic that never fails, summoning her mother with a wail...

The first of three picture-books to feature the witch's children - the subsequent two are The Witch's Children and the Queen and The Witch's Children Go to School - this amusing title demonstrates that good intentions are not enough, as the eponymous witch's children wreak havoc, even while trying to be helpful. I appreciated the author's use of fairy-tale themes, and the fact that the strongest magic known to the youngest witchy trouble-maker was a wail of "Mommy!" After all, for many young children, an appeal to parental power is the surest way to solve any problem. The artwork by Russell Ayto had a quirky sensibility that, while not exactly my cup of tea, was definitely attention-grabbing! All in all, The Witch's Children is an engaging addition to any witchy picture-book shelf, and is recommended to younger readers who enjoy madcap mischief with a magical bent. ( )