Gr 2-5-It's hard enough navigating elementary school, but for Salem Hyde she has to do so while keeping her magical skills in check in Cammuso's (Knights of the Lunch Table, 2008) charming new graphic novel series. After Salem confuses the upcoming spelling contest with spell casting and accidentally turns the crossing guard, Mrs. Fossil, into a dinosaur, her non-magical parents enlist the help of a magical companion to assist Salem. Percival J. Whamsford III, or "Whammy" as Salem likes to call him, is a cat who has 800 years' experience teaching young witches to use their powers. Salem's impulsive antics (flying a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom and having a whale materialize in the gymnasium when "wail" is misspelled during the contest) frustrate Whammy, but ultimately the two come together to make things right and form a strong friendship. Cammuso's play on words are simple enough for new readers to understand and sophisticated enough to entertain those with more advanced skills. A memorable scene about a "WHAT Witch" test that is reminiscent of Abbot and Costello's "Who's on First" routine. The characters are drawn with big smiles and wide eyes, invoking classic comic imagery, while the mostly black-and-white illustrations are infused with shades of pale green. Fans who like their Sunday cartoons with longer plots and hysterical antics will clamor for the next adventure in this creative series. Move over Babymouse--there's a clever new character in the graphic novel section.-Kristine M. Casper, Huntington Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Young witch Salem Hyde wants to win the spelling bee and be crowned the spelling queen, but when she accidentally turns the school's crossing guard into a dinosaur, she know she needs help with her spells (and, coincidentally, her spelling). Enter Percival J. Whamsford III, a cat who has helped many witches over the past 800 years, and he still has five lives left. But Salem is a challenge: she flies on a vacuum cleaner, she's impatient and impulsive, and she gets her spells just wrong enough to cause big havoc. For instance, when Salem casts a spell to win the school spelling bee, misspelled words come to life, turning the teacher whose constant lecturing made him a bore into a garbage-munching boar. Can Whammy help Salem put things back to normal before Mr. Fink gets her expelled? And can Salem learn to be a great witch after all? Young readers will eat up Cammuso's (Otto's Orange Day, 2008) action-packed panels, full of cartoonish antics, silly puns, and playful slapstick humor.--Kan, Kat Copyright 2010 Booklist
