Hazel is White the “beasts of all shapes and sizes” readers meet include fantastical creatures of color and one who uses a wheelchair. The writing is lush and lyrical (“milky clouds…hung low”), and the textured, earth-toned illustrations expertly capture Hazel’s world, both cozy (her tiny home) and gloriously wild (the forest she tends to). She even has hairy legs she has more important things to do than shave, such as serve as midwife to Mrs.
Refreshingly, nothing is sanitized: Little Witch Hazel is not gaunt and whimsical she’s curvaceous, sturdy, and strong. Many creatures are fantastical (dryads, goblins). They’ll meet a friendly and funny (especially the chipmunk with the toothache) community of anthropomorphic creatures, such as Wendell the sailing frog and Mousepappa (who wears the apron and takes care of the babies). The detailed, evocative worldbuilding will have readers lingering. Stoic, diligent, and giving, Hazel nurtures an orphaned owl egg in spring is convinced by friends to take a day off in summer helps a lonely troll in autumn and is saved from a storm in winter by Otis, the owl she once mothered. Her distinctive personality is fleshed out vividly throughout this thoroughly satisfying set of four stories, one for each season. Little Witch Hazel lives in Mosswood Forest in a home at the base of a tree trunk. A miniature witch tends to a forest over the course of a year.
