cover image Fried Feathers for Thanksgiving

Fried Feathers for Thanksgiving

James Stevenson. Greenwillow Books, $16 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-688-06675-8

Dolores and Lavinia, those witches from Emma and Yuck! are sitting around, beefing about the fact that, once again, Halloween has come and gone (""It's a terrible let down, Lavinia!''). Emma, meanwhile, is planning a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. She has a guest list;``Marsha could be persuaded,'' ``Calvin would be delighted'' and ``Horace has no plans'' are among the verbal R.S.V.P.s. No one wants to invite Dolores and Lavinia. Then the two witches trick everyone into cleaning their home on Turkey Day, but kick Emma et. al out before the first course. They plan to steal Emma's dinner, but the small witch has cooked up her own plan; even though she can't do magic, she and the animals make it look as if she can conjure up cranberry storms and shrink or enlarge turkeys. Lavinia and Dolores, frightened by any magic but their own, fly off into the setting sun while Emma and her friends feast. Each twist of the story is more surprising than the last, until that final festive endingjust when you think you know what's next, Stevenson turns the Thanksgiving tables. A jolly find. (5-8)