The First Spell of Winnefred Broomstock

Seven-year-old Winnefred is hard-pressed to find a costume for the witches' Halloween ball. As a novice witch, she must conjure up her outfit by means of her newly acquired magical powers. When Winnefred finally hits on an incantation, she hopes it will be potent enough to win her the scariest-costume prize. Indeed, when the potion takes effect, Winnefred appears at the ball in an ensemble designed to frighten even the scariest witch. The bulk of this pleasant but rather minimal first book is devoted to a hunt for the elixir's ingredients. In this kind of scaled-down, supernatural Where's Waldo? , readers peruse pictures crowded with ghouls, ghosts and monsters in search of ``A sorcerer's hat, with star and moon / A scraggly cat, with whiskers broom'' and eight other witchy artifacts. Although the search may prove diverting, the book's story, designed solely to frame this interactive scavenger hunt, is heavy-handed and contrived. Sperling's illustrations, though brightly colored and full of creepy figures, may be overly cute and commercial for some tastes. Ages 5-9. (July)