How to Catch a Witch

How to Catch a

by Alice Walstead, Megan Joyce (Illustrator)

How to Catch a Witch Professionally spiraled and resold by a third party. This spiraled book is not necessarily affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by the publisher, distributor, or author.

Genres: Picture Books, Halloween, Holiday, Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy, Witches

40 pages, Spiral-bound

Published August 2, 2022

Reviews

[Emily Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was very disappointing. It has a weird, choppy rhyming scheme. I think it's an attempt at a limerick, but possibly not. It's obviously supposed to have a rhyming rhythm, but I couldn't get it to work at all which just completely ruined the book for me. The ending is also a bit odd and abrupt...the entire book is about trying to catch the witch, but then suddenly she's welcome to return every Halloween? I definitely don't recommend this book.

[Rose Andrews · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited to pick this one up to add to our collection of this "how to catch" series. However, this one is hard to read because of how choppy it is written. That alone distracts from the story. It is also all over the place, and they are not focusing on actually catching the witch throughout the story. Huge disappointment.

Honestly, it is a HUGE disappointment that this particular story is overall hard to read because of how poorly it is written.

We love other ones from the "how to catch" series, but this one is absolutely our least favorite.

[Tara Engel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been my least favorite of the How To Catch series. I didn't care for its flow and my sourcebooks free e-book had me wondering if the pages were even in order. I will not be adding this to the library picture book circulation.

[Ashley Gadue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't find a "rhythm" while reading this to my son. We have read a few of the other ones and they seemed to have a kind of rhyme like flow.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of trick-or-treaters attempt to catch a witch on Halloween night in this rhyming picture book from author Alice Walstead and illustrator Megan Joyce. Noticing the appearance of numerous mysterious and monstrous little creatures on the big night, the children conclude that the witch is throwing a party, and set a number of traps which that magic-maker eludes. Eventually the night draws to a close and witch and creatures depart, having made Halloween a blast...

One of a number of books in the "How to Catch A..." series, How to Catch a Witch is the second book I have read from author Alice Walstead, following upon her board book, My First How to Catch a Witch: A Spooky Halloween Board Book for Toddlers . As it happens, I thought at first that the two would be essentially the same book, just in board vs picture book format, but it turns out that although they have the same theme—a Halloween hunt for a witch—and are both in rhyme, there are significant differences otherwise. These include the fact that it is a group of trick-or-treaters hunting the witch here, rather than one individual child; that the traps set are different; and that the text itself is completely different. In any case, I found this one somewhat uneven. The rhyming scheme often felt a little awkward, and while the artwork was colorful and cute, somehow it also felt a little too slick. I'm glad to have read this one for my witchy-witches project, but am not sure I strongly recommend it.

[Severind Alexander · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was admittedly a bit confused by the ending of this one. It didn’t end the way I expected it to. Still enjoyable, although the rhyming scheme wasn't my favorite. I noticed other reviewers saying it was a bit choppy, and when you're reading aloud and the rhymes don't quite work as smoothly, it's a bit disappointing and isn't as fun to read.

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never want to read this one again. It doesn't even make sense and the rhyming is weird.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kids, who don't know WTF a witch and her friends are doing, talk about trapping them. Turns out they were having a dance party, not hurting anyone. Stupid kids.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

We have the elf & monster books so I was excited to get this one for Halloween. The rhythm & flow aren’t very smooth reading aloud. The kids thought it was fun to find the monster on the page but the story is missing a story. It’s just a recount of Halloween that could be magical or could be parents dropping kids off in their subdivision :shrug:
The only trap they understood was the last one, which didn’t work. They never actually catch anything so the witch is just a backdrop character instead of the main gal.
It’s okay. We’ll still read it a few more times this year & put on our shelf.

[AMY · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a Halloween book with lots of style but I did not really like it. It is a rhyming story featuring all the ways kids try to catch a witch. It was just ok for me but maybe kids will like it better due to the illustrations. The story did not really work for me. I would skip this one.

[Scout x Kid Lit · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the wordiest and most convoluted of the series. I definitely change the words for this one when reading it to my toddler. It's also really long, but my kid loves witches and monsters, so we did end up buying it on sale on Amazon.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was awful. The writing and rhyming is HORRIBLE, completely atrocious. I kept wondering, does that rhyme? The rhythm was terrible. It started off with the kids dressing in costumes with care, so I thought it followed the rhythm of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Nope! It does not.

The illustration is in the style of a graphic novel and I don’t like it at all.

The story was all over the place. All of a sudden creatures started appearing, and then dancing, and they figured out the witch brought them. How? How did they figure that out??

The writing was so stupid. “Better trap the witch before ghouls rule my school!” Who was talking about school? Why would they go to your school??

Then all the monsters were dancing and the kids suddenly admitted she’d thrown the best party of the year. They’d already been dancing in the beginning, so why now is it a party and the witch is good?? WHAT??

She opened a portal and sent all the creatures back and she was welcome whenever as party hostess.

I just don’t even know what to say. This was crazy and weird and bad. I don’t get the point or anything about this story.

[Vanessa Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book about a bunch of kids who wanted to know how they could catch a witch. She was throwing a big party and was bringing ghouls and ghosts into the real world and the children did not want that. They tried to set traps and different things to catch the witch but they did not succeed and at the end of the night, she took all the ghouls and ghosts back home. I loved this book and I thought that it would make a great read-aloud. I also loved that there were some words that were in a different color or pattern on each page so that we could make that a "vocab" word for the day or week or whatever it is.
Author: Adam Wallace
Illustrated: Megan Joyce
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland August 2, 2022

[Ari]

This is a fun children's book about catching a witch and how a group of kids will be able to do it. Throughout the book, there are many ghouls and ghosts because the witch brought them with her. The kids need to get rid of the witch to get rid of them. while trying to capture the witch the kids realize that they will need more traps. The kids try to trick her and capture her under the bridge but she was too clever and sent a bat in before her. But at the end of the book the witch opens a portal and brings all of her friends with her.

[Savannah Putfark]

The story is about a group of friends getting ready to go out trick or treating and they all kinds of ghost and ghouls and they see a witch and they have party and they set up a trap so that she can send the monsters back and they set up dancing prize, so they set up another trap with a roadblock she stops and look and summons a bat and keeps a boat to fly after the party they all leave. I thought that this was a cute book for Halloween and the students would like this because it is a Halloween story, and it is interesting.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute! Busy pages for kids to view all the characters and try to figure out what’s happening. Nice rhyming lines, but have to agree the rhyme is choppy and discordant. The focus is definitely not on catching the witch 🧙‍♀️. It’s kind of bouncing from one event to another without a recognizable plan. Cute drawn figures of the kids and ghouls. Good Halloween 🎃 story. I’ll have to try others in the “How to catch” series as other reviewers say they are far superior to this one.

[Little Batties · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was cute, and the illustrations were creative. The authors gave the readers a little action, but the switching from rhyming to not took away from the flow of the story. It made parts of it fall flat. However, this would be a nice Halloween themed book to read to the younger grades during story time, and you could even promote them to see what they think they will see when they go out on Halloween.

[Bozhena Levine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Sourcebooks for the advanced electronic review copy of this book. Great premise and a wonderful idea, however, for a children’s book, the text feels a bit disjointed. There’s no rhythm or rhyme, so it’s a bit difficult to read. The illustrations are great, colorful, and detailed. It’s a great addition to the other How to Catch a … series.

[Shawna Dailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I purchased this based on the illustrations, which were awesome. However, I was disappointed when I tried to read the story. It just didn't have a rhythmic flow that young children like. I ended up returning it.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Sourcebooks Early Reads for an e-ARC - I eventually grabbed a copy from my local library as well. This one wasn't my favorite text-wise: it was a bit all over the place and hard to follow. But it was a fun experience and great illustrations!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully illustrated Halloween fun. Not only does the witch have a party and brings guests but she cleans up afterwards too. How considerate. The kids were working together to catch the witch and had fun without even realizing it as it was happening.

[Kellen Ashmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great idea in the series to incorporate Halloween and Witches, however it reads choppy and without a real rhythm. My daughter still liked it due to the subject matter and illustrations regarding the halloween subject. It is not great, but it is not bad. It is an okay read.

[Foxlynx · Rating 2 out of 5]

My family usually likes this series, and I enjoy books that put witches in good light. But the rhyming was really rough and just didn't flow too well. Feels like the author is just rushing to push this series out. Wasn't as fun as the other books.

[Sydney Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a silly easy to follow book that would be good for all ages. It would be a good book to talk about during halloween and then ask the students to write or decribe how they would catch a witch.

[Brittney Cayford]

This book and the "How to Catch" series is a great picture book for students to use for interactions, relatability, and interests. Students can relate to the story and have a fun way to encourage creativity and engagement.

[Zoe Austin]

How to Catch a Witch by Alice Walstead offers a mildly engaging story about a group of kids trying to catch a witch. It could serve as a decent option for a light reading assignment in a classroom setting, but it may not captivate all students equally.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

While out trick or treating the how to gang notices more kids than normal for their town. They soon realize a witch and her friends have joined in on the festivities. The gang sets out to trap the witch, but the witch has a few surprises of her own.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awful rhyming scheme

[Thomas Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork was okay. The book was dumb. The ending was worse.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute illustrations, but the rhyming text just did not work. Dissapointing.