Since we blasted off yesterday into the Halloween countdown, it’s appropriate that I dedicate this second day to one of my favorite kid books - Space Witch by Don Freeman. You can see by the well loved cover, just how much enjoyment this book gave me.
The amazing Don Freeman, author and artist of over 20 children’s books mashed up Halloween characters with space age themes for this wild tale about Tilly Ipswitch, Queen of Halloween.
Tilly decides to build a Zoom Broom, a spaceship that she will ride into space. Tilly hopes to visit Mars with her black cat Kit to scare Martians on Halloween.
I read this book hundreds of times when I was a kid. For me, the cover is iconic and whenever I see this swirly purple cover it brings me back to my childhood. Freeman’s artwork seems to move when you flip thru the pages and his story is fun an exciting with lots of moods. I like how it has a “Twilight Zone twist” at the end!
I’m surprised this book was never made into an animated cartoon. It would be nice to see the Space Witch fly around in her Zoom Broom swooshing thru a purple colored space year after year.
Check out Don Freeman's website to learn more about this talented artist.
6 comments:
Leave it to a with to do something like invent interplanetary bromm travel just to find new folks to scare on Halloween. I love a witch with passion!
I wasn't familiar with Freeman's work until my mid-twenties when I picked this up at a library discard sale. I liked it so much that I grabbed a few more of his books over the next few years. Great two and three colour work.
Thanks for posting this Mr. Mayor!
Man, this guy's illustrative style is very familiar to me but I don't think I've read Space Witch yet. Yet! Definitely gonna find a copy of this pronto!
Love that cover!
I was just searching for this book and my mom remembered the title. When I was about 4 years old this was my favorite book and I would read it over and over, and the illustrations are so vivid and descriptive that I still can see them in my mind. I always felt that the story had a very sad overall feeling about it, and it does have a twist as you say. This story I think fueled my desire to be an artist, and it is precious to me. Glad you posted this!
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