A Mentor Text Halloween Treat: In the Company of Witches!
By Lynne Marie
The very first witch I ever met in a picture book was “the Witch” from The Witch Next Door by Norman Bridwell. I was five and had just opened my first Scholastic Book Club Flyer. And when the book came in, I loved it! The Witch inspired a love for reading, and my life’s dream to get a book in the Scholastic Book Flyer! Which, I am grateful to have achieved with Hedgehog Goes to Kindergarten, Hedgehog’s 100th Day of School and Moldilocks and the Three Scares.
But it wasn’t until the title for BroomMates: A Brewing Boundary Battle (co-written with Brenda Reeves Sturgis, my partner in rhyme and illustrated by Nico Ecenarro) came to me that I realized that I needed to write a witch book, too! And I did!
I embarked on my goal to read 100 Witch and Halloween themed picture books (as Mentor Texts / Comp Books). This would help me make sure that my book could stand out, and, also above many of the rest. In addition, I needed to make sure that my story idea was fresh and hadn’t been done before. For the purposes of this article, I will highlight books that not only had witches, but a focus on brooms.
One goes zip.
Two go zoom.
Three witches glide from room to room.
This book was fun and very clever. It counted up to ten and back down again. And it has rhymed witchy bickering like mine, as well: Ten take off, packed too tight. Ten witches bicker, start to fight.
Reading this enjoyable book, I realized that my book needed to be more than just witches on a broom (as that was done),
and done previously with Julia Donaldson's Room on the Broom.
This sweet book was about sibling witches. So definitely something to keep an eye on. It turned out to be about an older witch teaching the younger sisters about humans and Halloween. It focused on being brave and had a fun twist at the end! Doing deep dives on books on your topic and theme will prove fun. It's so cool to see how many variations ideas there are under the sun (or the moon).
This is the second rhyming book of the bunch. Little Witch couldn't wait for the full moon to rise, when witches on broomsticks would take to the skies. This one deals with a lost broom, rather than sharing a broom, so that was good news. And there was a ticking time bomb - she needed the broom for Halloween night. So the search was on, to no avail. Little Witch had to try other modes of transportation. Another fun idea, but different from mine.
In this tale, a witch has trouble learning to fly her broom, again and again, and again. Only when she helps a friend does she learn just what she needs to pass her flight test. This was cute and sweet and had a fun resolution which involved a rat. And it wasn't like my book at all, which featured two sisters trying to share a broom (and a room). What can be better than that?
These are just a few of the books I explored. It's really important to read as many Mentor Texts / Comp Books as you possibly can. There's always a lot of takeaway value to be had. The biggest take away here is that a change of focus can really change a story and its direction and make it fresh and new. I hope this helps you!
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Lynne Marie is the author of Hedgehog Goes to Kindergarten (Scholastic 2011), Hedgehog's 100th Day of School (Scholastic 2017), The Star of the Christmas Play (Beaming Books 2018 and 2023), Moldilocks and the 3 Scares, (Sterling/Scholastic 2019), Let’s Eat! Mealtime Around the World (Beaming Books 2019), The Three Little Pigs and the Rocket Project (Mac and Cheese Press 2022), The Three Little Pigs and the Rocket Project Coloring Book (Mac and Cheese Press 2022), The Palace Rat (Yeehoo Press 2023), Broommates, A Bitter Boundary Battle (The Little Press 2024), and more forthcoming.
She’s the Owner/Administrator of RateYourStory.org, ThePictureBookMechanic.com, and a Travel Agent. In addition, she’s the Creator/Host of March On With Mentor Texts and Mentor Text Talk book chat on Sundays, and the Co-Host of #SeasonsOfKidLit (www.seasonsofkidlit.com).
She lives in her hometown on Long Island with her husband and daughter, a Schipperke named Anakin and a Mini Pinscher named Marlowe. Visit her at www.LiterallyLynneMarie.com. Lynne Marie is represented by Marisa Cleveland of www.theseymouragency.com. Follow her on Facebook here and on Twitter here.
Who knew there would be so many books about witches! Sage advice to hunt down all mentor texts on your topic or theme.
Thanks for the helpful tips, Lynne Marie! Loved the breakdowns.
So many witches! This was a really helpful run down of how to think about mentor texts. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing! It is so cool that your love for reading started with a book about a little witch, and here you are with your very own witch book!
So interesting to see just a few of the PB's that have "witches" as main characters yet each story is so different. So important to do the research of what's out there before writing a story. Thanks for sharing!