When those two nasty witches, Dolores and Lavinia, realize that the very worst day of the year - Valentine's Day! - is around the corner, they seek out someone to ridicule, and naturally land upon good witch Emma. Finding her making homemade Valentine cards for her friends, they make themselves unpleasant, sneering at her foolishness, and deciding to play a dirty trick, by sending her some fake Valentines of their own. Finally getting fed up, Emma and her friends decide it's time to return the favor...

The fourth of James Stevenson's picture-books devoted to the adventures of Emma the witch, following upon Yuck!, Emma and Fried Feathers for Thanksgiving, Happy Valentine's Day, Emma! offers another humorous take on the witchy tale. Dolores and Lavinia are as nasty as ever, and Emma and her woodland friends as capable of turning the table on their bullies. The style here - cartoon-style artwork, comic-book panels, and the use of dialogues in speech bubbles to tell the story - is the same as in the earlier books, and the humor as pointed. Recommended to fans of the Emma books and to anyone seeking slightly less sweet Valentine's Day stories for the picture-books set. ( )