Singingwoods

A Blog about life... jewellrey...and beads...

Some Absolutely Wonderful reading for Halloween!






When my children Jenny and Kibbie were about 7 and 8 I found the greatest Author and her name is Ruth Chew. Ruth Chew lives in Brooklyn NY and mentions streets and parks which is neat as I remember those places as I visited them as a child going to see my Norweigen Grandparents. She was way before all the Magic and Harry Potter books out now. I stumbled across them in Barnes and Noble but now a days ones lucky to find her books at all. I had to go on Ebay to find many of the ones that were lost in a move years ago.

The "Witches Buttons". The story revolves around a witch who cast a spell on these buttons, one was actually a man/wizard who she shrank down to button size and another was a flying saucer. The two friends find these things out as they go along, and the story twists and turns with surprises every step of the way. One scene has the two friends shrinking down in size, so they can fit into the flying saucer button and then take it for a ride, to spy on the witch.

Next is the "Magic Coin". The boy and a girl that found a coin they called Juan Pablo. It has a man with a little bearded face that is magic. He took the boy and girl on an adventure with pirates!
Also is "The Trouble with Magic". Harrison Peabody, a good-natured wizard who has a few "kinks" to iron out in his magic and his problems with an umbrealla who will only work when it rains and a Sea serpent in a large lake in Brooklyn!
Ruth Chews written many more than these and here I have only mentioned a few. This is reading for young people but I have found All of her books simply deightful!






2 comments:

I LOVE RUTH CHEW! We read them when we were kids also. I remember that one particular summer, my friend Jenni and I looked for our very own Earthstar. Believe it or not, we found one! However, unlocking the secrets of making us strink and fly around were a little advanced for us and we made plots of trying to find some kind of "head witch" to show us how.

I'm so very happy that you've posted about her and her books. I'm definitely going to have to revisit them as I'm in Brooklyn most of the time nowadays and would be very interested to see if she wrote about any place that I lived at or around.

 

Tis a small world Andrew! Today as a grown woman I still love to mosey a read thru her books! I have every one of them. You know when Jenny was about 8 she did a book report about Ruth Chew and her books and wrote to Sholastic books a letter to Ruth Chew. Scholastic sent my Daughter 3 books and forwarded the letter to Ms Chew. She wrote Jenny back (a typed letter) and signed it and drew a witch underneath the letter. (With her address on the back of envelope) We were so estatic! The teacher made a big deal and Jenny got a high award for what she did. After moving so many times I believe the letter is stuck in a large old book but not sure as I went thru a divorce. It just shows the outcome and doors that will open when one travels with things!