¿Cómo machacar brujas?

K-Gr 2—These two French exports from the "How to Banish Fears" series are how-to manuals for children who find themselves plagued with monsters or witches. In an attempt to demystify the extraordinary world of things that go bump in the night, Leblanc offers suggestions from the diabolical to the just plain idiotic. In order to get rid of tiny monsters, for instance, she suggests a sugar trail leading into a saucepan. When the imps are in the pot, slam on the lid, cook them, and turn them into marmalade. As for some of the witches, children are counseled to act dumb, grab a spell book, and turn the witches into toads, snakes, or geriatric owls. If the kids can't read, then it is suggested that they cut the pages, mix all the words up, and ensnare the witches in the spells—thereby shrinking them. Garrigue's fun and colorful ink and watercolor illustrations are reminiscent of Babette Cole's artwork. The monsters are toothy, googly-eyed, and multi-limbed, and the witches range from pointy-hatted, long-nosed, gnarled-fingered cacklers to evil, flower-bedecked blonde fashionistas.