The Witch of Hissing Hill 
Mary Calhoun ~ Janet McCaffery ~ William Morrow, 1964
First off let me start off by saying, recently I'm become slightly obsessed with tumblr. I started my tumblr just to see what it was like, and man oh man, it's easy to get addicted looking at all the images, sorted together. Total eyeball candy. Which leads me to this post...
I have to admit, when I first started this blog, I really did just feature the books my son loved... and now that I've (sort of) started collecting for myself, I have to admit he hasn't read all of them. Sometimes I buy a book and write it up the same day, and then he gets to read later. He still very much loves picture books, but they are getting slowly squeezed out by the likes of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson... our picture book snuggle time is lessened by about a second a day. So, yeah, I'll admit. I bought this for myself. And sure, my son will read it in the next week or so, but still, for me, it's eye candy.
Far back in the hill country is Hissing Hill.It's a bare lonely spot, with one twisted house
and a tall fir behind it.
Once upon a time the hill was aswarm
with black witch cats.
Cats arching their backs on the rooftop,
cats chasing up the fir tree,
cats yowling on crooked fence posts,
cats hissing in every corner of the shackly house.
And all of them black, black, black.
Who doesn't love a black cat? Or at least the idea of one. Mystery. Halloween. Bad luck. Witches. Swizzle is a witch who raises cats. But not just any cats...
Her cats were the witchiest, the wickedest, the very worst, wonderful witch cats in the world.
That is until, a yellow kitten turns her whole witching world topsy-turvy. The words here are really bouncy and fun and you know how I love this sort of 60s illustration. I probably should have waited until October to share, but I'm impatient like that. BOO!
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I want this one! You really should start your own printing press, a la Purple House.
ReplyDeleteooh, this is nice!
ReplyDeleteLove it! I collect kid's books with Halloween themes. This one goes to the top of my wish list.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for this post. I read this book as a child, and wanted to get it for my grandchildren, but couldn't remember the title. If not for your post, I would never have found it again! :)
ReplyDeleteI read this book as a kid too. It is such an awesome book. I wasn't able to find it for my kids but I'd love to get this for my great nephews.
ReplyDeleteI am saying a special prayer of thanks for you tonight.
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to remember the exact name of this book for years!! It was on my childhood bookshelf and is such a part of my memories. I found Prince Bertram the Bad and Too Many Mittens... but this book eluded me.
Thank you,
Edie Gilligan