I love the colors and illustrations in this story. Delightfully awful
witch is no match for a calm and determined mother and son duo bent on opening a tearoom in the country.

*from my 9 year old,” The witch is hilarious and now I want to try blueberry pancakes! This is a very good book to read, especially over a bowl of blueberries.”

*The title will tell familes that avoid witchcraft and spells all they need to know. ( )

This is a favorite from my childhood and is now popular with my 5 year old son. The illustrations are top-notch, particularly one color image involving frogs. Still very funny. ( )

Great book to introduce vocabulary to the class that you don't usually here now-a-days, such as tearoom, chimney, shutters, ear-splitting, cupboards, and attic. This would also be a great book to incorporate into a lesson when talking about helping others, or to introduce fantasy with witches in a stereotypical way (mean), but then show they can be good too! Also, a good book that demonstrates still being kind to someone who isn't so kind to you in the first place. This story also demonstrates a single parent and single child living together getting along just great. ( )

Old Black Witch is a wonderful and imaginative story with beautiful illustrations that tell just as much as the words do. Readers are asked to be understanding of an old witch, set in her ways yet able to show a somewhat warm and human side. This book also raises the question of what it really means to be a family, and accommodating others while staying true to oneself. ( )

When Nicky and his mother buy a dilapidated old home in a small New England village, intending to renovate it and turn it into a tearoom, they are unprepared for the original inhabitant: a sooty, snarly Old Black Witch with a penchant for getting into trouble. Soon coming to an arrangement with this cantankerous creature - Nicky's mother offers her a room in the attic, which, with all its cobwebs and dirt, suits her just fine - mother and son manage to make their tearoom a success, even involving the Old Witch, who makes a mean blueberry pancake, in their efforts. When a pair of burglars target the tearoom, the Old Witch is pleased at first - wickedness being something she approves of - until she considers the idea that, as partial proprietress, they are stealing from her as well...

Originally published in 1963, this first of three witchy picture-books from Harry and Wende Devlin - a husband-and-wife team who were also the creators of the "Cranberry" series, featuring holiday celebrations in a small New England town (Cranberry Christmas, Cranberry Thanksgiving, etc.) - was reprinted in 2012 by Purple House Press, a small Kentucky publisher dedicated to "rescuing" older children's books that have gone out of print, but deserve (in their view) a return to circulation. I would certainly agree that Old Black Witch falls into that category, and am immensely glad that the good people at Purple House Press decided to reprint it, as my library has only the third book devoted to the Old Witch's adventures, Old Witch Rescues Halloween!, and I have been wanting to read the first. I enjoyed the humor in this story, and appreciated the ways in which the Old Black Witch was converted into a friend, without fully domesticating her, or making her too sweet. The artwork has plenty of vintage details - the 60s clothing! - and perfectly captures the madcap sense of fun in the story. Recommended to children (or adults!) who enjoy witch stories! ( )