Reviews:
Publishers Weekly
This would be an unsettling story if Murphy's (Baby Polar) heroine, a plucky girl in a polka-dot nightgown, weren't so comically sure of defeating the icy-fingered Cold Water Witch. Hovering over the girl's bed and dressed in a splendid white gown, the witch extends her bony fingers and says, "Come with me to where the waters run cold. Come with me to where the world is covered in snow." But the girl isn't having any of it: "You'll have to drag me," she replies. In a clever twist on Gretel's oven gambit, the girl tricks the witch into entering the icebox without her ("I smell coconut. I hear waves. Are you sure you're sending me to the frozen land?" she asks innocently), then discovers that the witch is actually a girl under a spell. Lintern's (The Tooth Fairy Meets El Ratón Perez) spreads glow with cold light, like computer screens; their flat, cartoon feel is well suited to Murphy's eerie premise, though the pastel palette keeps things from getting too dark. It's a crooked, tense tale, but a satisfying battle of wits. Ages 4-7. (Aug.)
Children's Literature
On the coldest of nights with icicles for fingers and snow in her hair, the Cold Water Witch comes for the little girl. Luring her from her bed with promises of skating on the pond and playing in the snow, the clever girl realizes that the witch intends to carry her off to a frozen land. Just as the witch is about to send the girl into the freezer (the portal for the journey) the girl, in a page right out of Hansel and Gretel, pushes the Cold Water Witch deep inside. The witch's tears that bounce like diamonds on the floor touch the young girl's heart and when she learns that the witch is young girl under a spell she takes her icy hand in hers, the snow melts and the two girls head back to a warm bedroom to snuggle under the blankets and drink warm tea. Employing motifs from fairy tales the author seeks to create a modern-day tale of an evil enchantment undone by kindness. For the most part it works with its sinister witch and spunky heroine. It is the ending that falls flat. It is the illustrations, rendered in pencil and edited with photo editing software that are exceptional and save the day. Cold tones of ice blue, pale mauve, and frigid white create a chilly atmosphere with only the little girl's pink nightgown added for warmth. When the Cold Water Witch melts, the colors heat up with shades of red and orange. It is a suitable cold-weather read for primary age children. Better yet, read it on a hot summer day to cool off. Reviewer: Beverley Fahey
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