Moira struggles to unlock her magic, unlike her talented friend Lilly. Despite her best efforts, her potions fizzle and spells fail, leaving her discouraged. But with a little courage and support from Lilly, Moira learns to embrace her unique abilities and what she thinks is a useless relic. This enchanting tale celebrates friendship, confidence, and the magical journey to discovering one’s true powers.

My children and I fell in love with this story after just one read and have read it nearly a dozen times since then. It is such an uplifting story and we especially loved the final page where you see Moira and Lilly as best friends when they are older as they guide young new witches using their own unique relics. The illustrations are beautiful (the head to toes snuggle image??! BEYOND adorable) and the story matches their loveliness. A mega hit in our house, as we are often looking for good holiday-themed stories. An easy 5 stars!

Lilly and Moira aren't just the best of friends; they're also witches who are practicing their magic, and the time has come for their special relics to arrive. Lilly (who is seemingly perfect at everything) gets a beautiful relic, but Moira (who is...not so great at her magic) gets what appears to be a ratty old broom. At first she's frustrated and disappointed. How will she ever be a good witch if she can't do things right? Through friendship, newly gained confidence, and a touch of magic, Moira finds out that she doesn't have to be perfect at everything. She just has to be the best Moira.

Such a beautiful book with a lovely sentiment, and gorgeous illustrations! I'm excited to check out Beatrice Blue's other books in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story of a young witch who feels inferior and learns that everyone is important and nothing needs to be perfect. A beautiful update on Dumbo with his feather.
The illustrations by the author are detailed, brilliantly colorful, and totally wonderful!
Well suited for reading WITH someone of ANY age (not only 4 to 7) including ESL, and great for gifting to everyone, but especially to a school or your local public library!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected proof copy in Adobe Digital Editions provided by Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
#OnceUponaWitchsBroom by @BeatriceBlue_ #NetGalley #PictureBook @QuartoKids @Frances_Lincoln #Series

I loved the bright, lively illustrations! This is a gorgeous little picture book about celebrating our unique selves. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

As an adult, I found this book with its message of "believe in yourself and good things will happen" to be a little predictable. Hopefully children will feel differently. And, I'm sure Disney princess-obsessed little girls will love the pretty illustrations.

This picture book is such a relaxing and magical story! It reminded me of K O'Neill's work, and I loved it. The illustrations are gorgeous as we follow a young witch who keeps comparing herself to her witch friends. I loved the message of self-acceptance and love.

Thanks to NetGalley, Beatrice Blue, and Quarto Publishing for the chance to read and review! My opinions are my own.

A joyful, lavishly illustrated tale about accepting and believing in yourself. Highly recommend for any young magic fans.

A beautifully and dynamically illustrated story that teaches children the valuable lesson of "You can't wait for some external thing to give you confidence or make you better at something. That change has to come from within" and "Perfection is the enemy of good." Also good for adults like me who need that reminder!

I really enjoyed the storyline and moral to this book. It’s told in a way that’s easy to grasp by young people which you want from a children’s book! The illustrations are gorgeous and really add to the story.

If you are looking for a book about self love and acceptance for your young person, this is a great choice!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Once Upon a Witch's Broom is a wonderful story of friendship and finding your place with what you are good at. In a magical town there lived many witches. As they get older, they each receive a relic that will give them their power. Moira had no idea what power her relic would give her. All the other witches made their relics glow and show them their power, even her best friend Lilly. Moira needs to be positive and realize that she needs to believe in herself so that her power will reveal itself. With Lilly at her side, will she be successful? I didn't realize that this was part of a series, but after reading this with my granddaughter, we are doing to look for the others. Lilly and Moira are best friends, but Lilly seems to be perfect to Moira and she can't do anything right. Things come easily to Lilly, while Moira is shy, reluctant to try things and often lonely. As the relics were passed out, everyone's was shiny and beautiful, but Moira got a plain looking broom. Of course my granddaughter knew right away that it would fly and wanted Moira to sit on it. She shared her problems with Lilly (because we all need a BFF) and eventually figured out what she needed to make her relic show her powers. This is an uplifting story about believing in yourself, trying, sharing, being a friend and encouraging others. The illustrations also by Beatrice Blue were whimsical, full of colour, emotion and detail. I recommend this book for primary classrooms when learning about friendship, trying new things, self-esteem and finding your strengths.

Thank you to the Author and Netgalley for the ARC!

I always love this authors work and this one was no different. An adorable story about accepting and believing in yourself. As always the art was magical and full of whimsy 🧹

I am a huge fan of Beatrice Blue and this book series. As always, the illustrations are stunning. I enjoyed the story of a witch that was not confident in herself and frustrated that she wasn't like everyone else - very relatable. However, with the help of her friend she was able to see that she had magic within all along.

4★
“Once upon a magical town, there lived two young children with very special futures ahead of them.
Moira and Lilly would one day become witches!”

These little girls have been best friends forever.

My Goodreads review has an illustration with the caption:
“They loved doing everything together. But they were also different in lots of ways.”

As we go through the book, we see just how different they are.

My Goodreads review has an illustration with the caption:
“Lilly could make every single potion sparkle with colors…”

There are bright, pastel pictures of Lilly singing and playing. Moira has a bleaker view of life. She’s not game to try anything because nothing works. She feels hopeless.

My Goodreads review has an illustration with the caption:
“And she was too shy to even try making potions. It would be a disaster, she was sure of that.”

Poor kid. Even when Lilly and their other friends are around, she feels alone. But wait! There is hope. She knows that at some point, when they’re ready, every witch will receive a magical Relic. She’s sure if she gets one, it will fix EVERYTHING.

The day finally comes. Lilly and Moira each have a beautifully wrapped gift waiting at their door. What could it be? Lilly’s is small, while Moira’s is big.

My Goodreads review has an illustration with the caption:
Lilly: “It looks like it’s carrying a piece of the sun inside!”
Moira “This is no Relic at all.”

Lilly is excited. ALL of the little witches are excited, dancing and leaping and painting the air, flashing lightning. Not Moira. She sits with her broom and sulks. She has no magic power at all.

Lilly does her best to cheer her up, give her a pep talk, encourage her to try different things. Moira does. She tries spells and potions – nothing. No luck. That’s it – she’s done with her broom.

My Goodreads review has an illustration with the caption:
“I will NEVER be GOOD ENOUGH!”

She sneaks to the forest to hide her broken broom, but before she can do so, Lilly finds her. Moira wants to know how Lilly makes her Relic work. It turns out, Lilly has trouble and gets frustated, too, but she holds her Relic to her heart, thinks happy thoughts, and whispers:

My Goodreads review has an illustration with the caption:
“‘Nothing needs to be perfect. I only have to be myself.’ Then I feel strong and happy, and my powers bloom!”

Moira takes her broom home, tapes it back together, hugs her broom in bed, and thinks about her favourite things.

My Goodreads review has an illustration with the caption:
“And while thinking and thinking, Moira fell asleep.”

She dreams she’s flying through the sky, through the stars and fluffy clouds. When she opens her eyes – SURPRISE! She is actually flying! She finds Lilly in a meadow full of flowers, and the two friends fly through the sky together.

My Goodreads review has an illustration with the caption:
“Lilly, Lilly! Look! My Relic is magical too!”

Lilly insists it’s not just the Relic that works – it’s also Moira’s own magic. Moira continues to be her best self and enjoy her magic. When they get old, they are still best friends, while new little witches are learning from them.

“From that day on, all witches carry their Relics, no matter if they’re rocks, or brooms, or dust… to remind them that everyone is important, and that nothing needs to be perfect. Loving and trusting themselves will make them become the very best witches they can ever, ever be.”

The illustrations in this are colourful and atmospheric. They remind me of stills from a good cartoon movie. If children are anxious and withdrawn, I think they would be attracted to this very pretty story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for the copy for review.

Oh wow!!! It was a wonderful adventure with Lilly and Moira! And even more beautiful reminder that everyone are awesome. The story of two soon-to-be-witches, one who can do her magic and the other can't. But neither loose hope, for they will each be given a relic to boost their power. A beautifully illustrated book too, this was a pleasure to read.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

One upon a Witch's Broom is an adorable children's picture book with such a beautiful message for every little reader. I've not heard of this series of books before, and I'm so glad to have come across this one on netgalley. We follow two little witch friends who love each other dearly and are very different to each other. The story explains that not everything has to be perfect to be good enough and just because things always seem perfect for someone else doesn't mean it truly is and looks can be deceiving (this is so important for children to learn early in relation to social media especially), and that there's magic within us all we just have to discover it within ourselves. The illustrations are just adorable, and I can't wait to read all the other books in this collection!

This is a colorful children's book about the importance of being your unique self and finding your own power.

This was cute as anything. I’d love to read this to a group of kids just to see their opinion on the gorgeous illustrations and the endearing characters.

🧹REVIEW🧹

Title: Once Upon a Witch’s Broom
Author: Beatrice Blue
Release Date: August 8, 2023
Rating: 4/5⭐️

Once Upon a Witch’s Broom is a story about two young children, Moira and Lilly, who aspire to become witches. The problem is, is seems like Lilly is good at everything while Moira struggles. The two navigate the task of receiving their relics to become witches and also navigate their friendship and some of their deepest feelings along the way.

I always love books about witches, so I was eager to review this picture book. First of all, the illustrations are beautiful! There are many pages of intricately detailed illustrations that helped draw me into the story…the characters are especially beautiful. The friendship between Lilly and Moira was great. I loved the way that Moira viewed Lilly as being perfect and Lilly reassured her that she also made mistakes. The overarching theme of the story is that you don’t have to be perfect and you should love yourself for who you are, which I think is extremely important message for young children. Overall, this is a beautiful book with a wonderful message that will capture children’s imaginations.

Thank you to @netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

#netgalley #onceuponawitchsbroom #beatriceblue #childrensbooks #picturebooks #kidsbooks #schoollibrary #schoollibrarian

From Beatrice Blue's Once Upon series comes a new volume, One Upon a Witch's Broom, a lovely story about what it means to conquer self-doubt and flourish as an individual with the help of genuine friendship. But what makes this story special is the illustrations- the art style is captivating, and the colour palette is pleasant and with impeccable attention to detail the story and its characters truly come alive.

Thank you to Frances Lincoln Children's Books for the early access!