In this story, seven sweet children are transformed by an evil witch into specific types of food. “The inherent drama of the story, combined with the haunting images the art provides, gives the picture book a timeless quality.”--Booklist

maybe try again

book

movie

game

tv show

music artist

not sure rating

Heckedy Peg

This feels like either a Grimm fairytale or an Anderson fairytale, but maybe Audrey just wrote it to be that way.  The artwork is beautiful. It looks like Renaissance artwork with light/dark contrasts and it reminds me of her King Biggood book, which is amazing and you need to read that story.  A mother has 7 children and she names them after days of the week, why not right. The mother goes to the market with a warning not to touch fire or let in strangers, but strangers are crafty, especially old witches, so the children let them in and this starts the story. Heckedy Peg is an evil witch, because why not make witches evil, right? (I really don't like an evil witch archetype, it's so patriarchal)  The witch turns them into food and whisks them away to eat them at her cave home. The mother gets help from a bird and goes after them. She is able to rescue her children and I love how she does that. It's a great story device and that one piece could have been drawn out just a little bit more. It's over fast, but it's a great moment. It makes the story worth it.  Nephew thought this was a little spooky. He thought it was good and he was glad the children were saved. He thought the witch should have paid more. He gave this 3 stars.

Books like Heckedy Peg

Heckedy Peg

Cross-category suggestions

Lists with Heckedy Peg

maybe try again

not sure rating