Grimelda: The Very Messy Witch

by Diana Murray, Heather Ross (Illustrator)

Overview

Grimelda’s house may not be tidy, but it’s cozy, and that’s just the way she likes it. She also likes pickle pie. There’s only one problem—she can’t find the main ingredient in her messy house! Readers who enjoyed Norman Bridwell’s classic The Witch Next Door will love this funny, charming story about the everyday life of a witch.

With a repeating refrain and lively, rhyming text, Grimelda: The Very Messy Witch is perfect for reading aloud with a child at Halloween as well as all year round, or for an emerging reader to enjoy on their own. The vibrant illustrations by Crafty Chloe illustrator Heather Ross provide plenty of fun things for readers to discover on repeated reads.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062264480
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	07/26/2016
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Diana Murray is the author of several picture books, including Unicorn Day, illustrated by Luke Flowers, and City Shapes, illustrated by Bryan Collier. Her poems have been featured in magazines such as Highlights for Children and Spider. She lives outside New York City with her husband, two very messy children, a goldfish named Pickle, and an impressive sock collection. You can visit her online at dianamurray.com.

Heather Ross is an illustrator, author, and textile designer. She is the illustrator of How to Behave at a Tea Party by Madelyn Rosenberg, as well as the Crafty Chloe books by Kelly DiPucchio. She also wrote the bestselling craft books Weekend Sewing and Heather Ross Prints. Heather's own dog, Lobo, currently holds a regional title for Smelliest Pup. She lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2016
Grimelda, a young witch with a frizzy mass of red hair, keeps a messy house, which means that it’s no easy task to locate the spell book and the pickle root she needs for a recipe. Murray (City Shapes) packs playful comedy into her rhyming verse (“She used her broom to fly, not sweep./ Her floors had dirt six inches deep”), and Ross (How to Behave at a Dog Show) creates a chaotically cozy swamp dwelling for Grimelda, filled with lurking animals, piles of books, vines, and globs of slime. Grimelda eventually caves in and cleans up, but this isn’t a story meant to encourage kids to keep their own rooms tidy: Grimelda looks profoundly uneasy in her newly spic-and-span house, and she immediately uses a spell to mess it up again. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for GRIMELDA: THE VERY MESSY WITCH: “The digital illustrations seem to revel in the mess, and there are lots of funny things for readers to spy and shake their heads over-how did that get there? Mess-makers will revel in Grimelda’s tale.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Both endearing and amusing. Playful, singsong rhymes will hold readers’ attentions while making Grimelda’s plight (having to clean her messy space) relatable. Bright, cartoonlike digital illustrations emphasize Grimelda’s haphazard life, and the circular ending will have readers giggling.” — Horn Book Magazine

“Murray packs playful comedy into her rhyming verse and Ross creates a chaotically cozy swamp dwelling for Grimelda.” — Publishers Weekly

Praise for Heather Ross’s artwork in CRAFTY CHLOE: DRESS-UP MESS-UP: “Ross’s spirited drawings, rendered in pencil and colored digitally, keep the action bouncing along.” — School Library Journal

Praise for Heather Ross’s artwork in HOW TO BEHAVE AT A TEA PARY: “Photoshop digitally composed illustrations leave plenty of white space and feature brightly colored, energetic, and engaging scenes with action galore.” — ALA Booklist

From the Publisher

Both endearing and amusing. Playful, singsong rhymes will hold readers’ attentions while making Grimelda’s plight (having to clean her messy space) relatable. Bright, cartoonlike digital illustrations emphasize Grimelda’s haphazard life, and the circular ending will have readers giggling.

Horn Book Magazine

Praise for Heather Ross’s artwork in HOW TO BEHAVE AT A TEA PARY: “Photoshop digitally composed illustrations leave plenty of white space and feature brightly colored, energetic, and engaging scenes with action galore.

ALA Booklist

09/01/2016
PreS-Gr 2—Grimelda the witch would love to try a new recipe but can't seem to locate the most important ingredient, pickle root. Realizing that cleaning her extremely cluttered house is the only way she'll find it, she sweeps, scrubs, and organizes "all night and half a day" till the house is tidy and she finds the pickle root, among other important things. But what self-respecting witch lives in a clean house? Children will love the Seussian rhymes that don't miss a beat and will enjoy following a tricky little spider determined to keep the missing ingredient from Grimelda. VERDICT The length is perfect for storytimes, and the illustrations are engrossing. A fun, nonscary selection for year-round sharing.—Melisa Bailey, Harford County Library System, MD

School Library Journal

2016-07-20
Children with messy rooms are sure to empathize with Grimelda, and they will see the twist at the end coming a mile away, to their parents’ chagrin.“She used her broom to fly, not sweep. / Her floors had dirt six inches deep. / But though she said she didn’t mind, / sometimes things were hard to find.” And that’s just the situation Grimelda finds herself in when she wants to try out a new recipe for pickle pie: she can’t find the pickle root. And a finding spell is out of the question since her spell book is not on its shelf. The little witch finds all sorts of lost treasures in her hunt for the missing ingredient, but it isn’t until she has actually swept and tidied and hung up that she finds the pickle root. But before she can cook, something just has to be done about her unnaturally tidy house. But will the pickle root stay where she puts it? Readers with good eyes will spy the ingredient in a couple illustrations—it has help disappearing. The digital illustrations seem to revel in the mess, and there are lots of funny things for readers to spy and shake their heads over—how did that get there? Grimelda is a white redhead with huge, puffy pigtails. Mess-makers will revel in Grimelda’s tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews