cover image HOODWINKED

HOODWINKED

Arthur Howard, . . Harcourt, $16 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-15-202656-1

Despite her dainty button nose and freckles, Mitzi wears a purple witch's gown and eats skull-shaped Rice Creepies cereal. She needs a frightful pet to match her gothic style. When a fuzzy marmalade kitten appears, Mitzi sighs, "You're simply not creepy enough." But she changes her mind after an evening of prowling, and names her sidekick "Hoodwink." Howard (Cosmo Zooms) uses cute-fierce characters and cobwebby settings in this comical rejection of sugar and spice. Ages 3-7. (Sept.)