(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Sonia Chaghatzbanian. Susanna Louisa (The Brixen Witch) sells Rudi's cow to Agatha for magic beans. Only one witch's magic can exist in a province at once, so Brixen's witch sends Rudi, Susanna, and Agatha to return the beans to the lair of Petz's witch, "the Giant"--via beanstalk. DeKeyser confidently modifies and complicates a familiar tale. Simple black-and-white spot art highlights significant objects.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2015

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by John Nickle. Reimagining the legend of the Pied Piper, DeKeyser adds a backstory and significant new characters, empowers the children, and builds to a satisfyingly different outcome. Farm lad Rudi finds, then loses, a golden guilder belonging to the titular witch--an ominous event since she's believed to be vindictive. The author lays the ground for her cliffhanger of a denouement well.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2012