#669 of 1001 · May 31, 2022

For some good-natured, witch-flavored adventure, try Margaret Hodges and Amanda Harvey’s Up the Chimney. When their bag of money is stolen, a family falls on hard times. Two sisters set out one at a time, hoping to earn a little money for their parents, and enter the service of a witch. Though ordered not to look up the chimney, each succumbs to temptation and discovers a bag of money suspiciously like the one stolen from their family. However, because of the kindnesses she has shown to others, the first sister is able to hide from the witch and escape; the second, apathetic and self-absorbed, is caught and beat with a broom. Hodges tells the story with wit and warmth, while Harvey illustrates with a lively energy. A note for folklore enthusiasts: this tale is adapted from “The Old Witch”, a tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in his 1894 work More English Fairy Tales. Hodges makes one key change to the text that radically shifts the heroine’s characterization. In the original, the money bag rightfully belongs to the witch, and the girl is not retrieving it for her family—she is simply stealing it. #money #bag #oven #bread #cow #milk #tree #apple #apples #witch #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks