Kids into books: Broomsticks in Space

Author: Kate Saunders

Illustrator: Tony Ross

Age: 7-10 years

Publisher: Macmillan, $10.95


Old Noshie was a plump, bumbling sort of witch, with bright green skin that glowed in the dark. Her head was as bald as an egg, and she wore a blue wig to keep it warm. Skirty Mark was a skinny witch, with grey skin, purple hair, and red eyes that shot out sparks when she was angry.

The two witches had found Tranters End by mistake. It had happened nearly four years ago, at Hallowe'en. Old Noshie and Skirty Mark had been banished from Witch Island for singing a rude song about their wicked queen, Mrs Abercrombie. When they first came to the belfry, the two exiled witches had been very homesick. Nowadays they lived very happily underneath the deafening church bells.