I was pretty unhappy with this story. Although the basic premise was a good one (things may be less scary than they look), I really did not like how this book brought out this message.

First of all, the relationship between this story and the classic tale of Rapunzel was so thin as to almost be nonexistent. So why was there the need to take the title of "Rapunzel"?

Second, I really was offended that the "witch" in this book was pictured as a black girl. Was that to indicate that we should all be afraid of black children before we get to know them? There was also very little delineation of the difference between a "witch" and an otherwise "normal" person.

I remember that my own daughter was very much enamored of all things Strawberry Shortcake when she was a child. I would not have liked this book to have been part of her library. ( )