Rumblewick the cat is a familiar. He has signed a contract to help Hagatha Agatha (Haggy Aggy for short, HA for shortest) be witchy. Unfortunately, HA is not a willing witch. She loves toads and frog – but as pets, not spell ingredients. She drives Rumblewick to distraction by going to the Other Side (our world) to play with little girls, instead of creating horrible spells the way she is supposed to be doing. Rumblewick does the best he can, but snoopy familiars are lurking about, ready to tattle on HA and get her in trouble with the witch’s council. What can one cat do?
This is a fabulous new series of beginning chapter books. There are lots of pictures. The text is done in a mock-handwriting font, with lots of embellishments and changes to font size for emphasis, an excellent choice for the over-enthusiastic HA and the slightly histrionic Rumblewick. Haggy Aggy is a sympathetic character, full of little-girl charm, yet managing to be quick with a spell when her ire is up or she is defending helpless creatures. I hope this series becomes popular.
Brooks Free Library Youth 