Part 1: A Little Bit of Witchery
I’ve been on search for books that affirm the magic of my life since my children were small. The picture books in this series are the ones that have spoken to my witchy- momma spirit in way or another.
Part 1, of course, are the witchiest! These are reframes or reclaims of the witch tropes the patriarchy has used to make strong women ugly, mean and scary. They each make a shift in their own ways. Together when these become the childhood stories of witches, a person can come away with a whole different point of view. And not only that, reading these books, especially aloud to children, does something healing for adults, too.
The Last Wild Witch — Starhawk and Lindy Kehoe, 2009
My Papa used to tell me I had magic hands, and other cryptic messages that I’ve only deciphered in recent years. Starhawk is the teacher that uncovered the logistics and day to day reality of magic for me. And in her first children’s book, here, she makes the work of witches both fairy tale and every day.
Little Witch Hazel — Phoebe Wahl (author & illustrator), 2021
Well I am officially obsessed with this book. I’ve been seeing it floating around the internet for a while, but for some reason I didn’t understand what lie inside. When I finally opened the pages recently at the library, I was engrossed. So many good things to say. I love Hazel’s hairy legs! Hazel is a white girl, err witch, but there is a lot diverse skin color representation in her friend group and world. The stories are sweet and still you actually learn some things about this character, so it’s not just a cute little world to look at pretty things in (which don’t mind here and there, but this is even better.) I love that Hazel does midwifery, forages, communicates with animals, helps her community and learns from others.
Witches of Anderson House — Jennie Poh & Dave Lowe, 2025
I treasure these books. They are not technically picture books, but beginner chapter books still with lots of illustrations. The series is about older witches all living in a big house in a town that isn’t quite sure about magic. I have a full review of this series coming up.
The Curious Little Witch — Lieve Baeten, 2010
This little witch gets to know the witches of magical house, the music witch, kitchen witch, etc. I love meeting so many kinds of witches. There is repetitive refrain throughout that young children often enjoy. The illustrations have me peering into each page to see all the little details.
A Woggle of Witches — Adrienne Adams, 1971
I love love love this book. You can watch the film strip version here, especially if you have a hard time getting your hands on the book. I was lucky to find a used copy myself. These witches are basically a goddess circle meeting up to do some good spell work together. Spoiler: Then at the end they get scared by kids dressed up in Halloween costumes.
Meg and Mog — Helen Nicoll & Jan Pieńkowski, 1972 (first in book in series)
I adore this set of 20 easy reader books. While they do not meet all the needs of young readers seeking decodable books, they are great little reads for children who already have the mechanics of reading or as read alouds or shared reading. I love how the characters reappear over the 20 books. And the witches are funny and fun loving and far from evil. More witches for the world!
The Laughing Witch — Andrew Newman and Liesl Bell, 2015
This book is part of Andrew Newman’s Conscious Bedtime Stories series. This one (and many others!) are available read by the author on YouTube. These were not widely available at libraries in my area until recently, so this was the way we accessed many of these books for years. This book reminds me of Starhawk’s The Last Wild Witch, in that the author purposefully is reframing the witch narrative with new age magic.
Room on the Broom — Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, 2001
At first glance this is just a fun, repetitious children’s book. It is that, but more since the witch portrayed is a good witch even as she keeps some of the traditional witch looks.
Strega Nona series — Tomie dePaola, 1975 (first book in series)
Strega Nona is the classic European village witch, old world magic here. Woot! She has a magic pot and even works in tandem with the village clergy!
Meg and Mog were my absolute favourites as a kid in the 70s!! I constantly would borrow them again and again from the library!