[.ca] Wizzil (ISBN 2877673405)

From Amazon.com:
Wizzil the horrible hag is bored stiff until her parrot not-so-sweetly suggests that she amuse herself by making somebody suffer, specifically the Frimps. Taking the bird's advice, she transmogrifies into a common housefly and zizzes over to Frimp Farm. Old DeWitt Frimp, who deplores flies, is armed with a flyswatter and misses the fly-witch by a hair. Wizzil vows revenge. Now, at least no longer bored, she decides to turn herself into a glove and lie in wait for the unwitting DeWitt. Sure enough, he puts it on right away, considering himself a lucky man to have made such a discovery. With the glove on, he soon finds that he can hit everything but flies with his flyswatter. Worse yet, Fred and Florence Frimp begin to experience "unbearable itches in unexpected places." When meatballs begin to explode, DeWitt finally realizes that the rash of bad luck started with the glove, and he throws it in the river. How could he have known that the glove would transform into the hideous Wizzil as soon as it hit the water? Or that Wizzil, unused to water, would start to sink? DeWitt, a good soul, jumps right in to rescue her, even though she is quite nasty. But what's this? Her nastiness washes downstream, and Wizzil is left a sweet old lady in his arms. "Needless to say, Wizzil and DeWitt fell completely in love, and wound up an old married couple who stayed together on the farm." And Wizzil was never bored stiff again. (Though the parrot found her new life with humans a bit humdrum.) William Steig--New Yorker cartoonist and creator of numerous picture books, including the Caldecott Medalist Sylvester and the Magic Pebble --is up to his usual tricks in this quirky story. Made-up words like "zizzes," odd colloquial expressions, and goofy plot twists add up to not only unmitigated delight but a complete lack of condescension in his writing for young readers. British illustrator Quentin Blake's scratchy, fluid, comical pictures--loaded with as many knee-slapping details as the story--are the perfect accompaniment to Steig's silly, romantic tale of the power of love to vaporize boredom and mean-spiritedness. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

Wizzil Watch:
This book is an engaging departure from all that is tried and tested in witch stories for children. A surprise ending introduces a theme not often seen in this type of literature. The illustrations are well done and very humorous. The pet parrot's sideline commentary is hilarious. I have had this book for under a week and already it is a big leisure reading favorite with my fifth graders who are rapidly acquiring the English language.

What a Witch...:
Wizzil, that horrible, nasty hag is bored and decides to entertain herself by making the Frimp family suffer. She turns herself into a work glove and leaves herself right in the path of Grandpa, DeWitt Frimp. He picks up the glove, puts it on and just can't believe his good fortune. That is until strange things begin to happen. When he tries to swat houseflies, he hits everything but the flies, destroying the house. The rest of the family begins to suffer, too. They develope unbearable itches that only get worse with scratching. At dinner, meatballs begin exploding and water spurts like fountains, right out of their glasses. The next morning, the whole house begins to shake and won't stop. DeWitt, can't take it anymore. He figures it must be the glove, that's when all the trouble started and throws it into the river. Then a strange thing happens. The glove turns back into Wizzil. She sputters and thrashes and sinks. DeWitt can't stand to watch her drown and jumps into the water to save her. As he pulls the repulsive witch to shore, all that mean nastiness washes away and when Wizzil and DeWitt look into each others eyes, it's true love, happily ever after..... Award winning author, William Steig has written another terrific story full of silly characters, laugh-out-loud scenes and hip kid-speak language that will charm and delight youngsters. Quentin Blake's expressive, busy cartoon-like illustrations compliment the story perfectly and together they've authored a picture book kids will want to read again and again. Perfect for children 4-8, Wizzil is a winner.

A book well worth the money:
I found "Wizzil" at the local library and thought it would be just another picture book to share with my children. As I started reading it, I was instantly hooked on the writing style of author William Steig. This book is "awesome" and "highly entertaining." I am also a children's writer myself trying to break into the business, so I have read and studied many children's picture books--this one by far stands out as being one of the best written. The imagination of William Steig is very comical as well as highly entertaining. His writing style is one of the best. You can't help but love his characters and sink into the story. I am going to purchase my own copy of this book--this is one story my kids will want to hear over and over. It is a purchase well worth the price. I was amazed to find out he also wrote "Shrek." What a talented writer!