Wanda's words got stuck

A tale of school-based anxiety in a magical setting. Wanda the witch loves arriving early for school so that she can sit quietly in her classroom reading. Alas, that pleasure lasts only until her noisy classmates arrive. Unlike them, Wanda feels too nervous to speak aloud in class. So when new classmate Flo arrives with the exact same problem, the two instantly bond. Practicing spells together for the upcoming school magic contest, Flo grows more confident than Wanda. But when the contest goes awry and Flo's in trouble, it's Wanda who finds the right words at the right time. The gentle rhyming text never strains or fudges its sometimes surprisingly wise wordplay. "Now, some words are meant well but come out all wrong. / And some are important and ever so long. / Some words can be brave, even if they're just small. / And sometimes, you find, you don't need words at all." Seeing Wanda and Flo both confronting their fears may encourage young readers with anxiety to do the same. The cartoon art puts a gentle spin on the otherwise Halloween-worthy setting. Wanda reads White, Flo reads Black, and their classmates are a variety of different races. Which witches watching their witchy words will win out? Just wait! (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.