The Widow's Broom Reader Response

A. The Widow's Broom
B. Chris Van Allsburg
C. Chris Van Allsburg
D. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992
E. Picture book, fantasy
F. 2-4
G. This book is about a widow who finds a witch who has fallen due to a faulty broom. Once the witch has healed, she flies away but she leaves her old broom behind. The broom begins to do things around the house, doing whatever the widow teaches it to do. However, when some boys begin taunting the broom, it gets in trouble for throwing their dog really far into the air and hitting the boys. Her neighbors tell her to get rid of the broom and she tricks them into burning a different broom when they decide they will burn it to get rid of it. The widow then paints the real broom white and sends it around the neighbor's house. They get scared and leave town.
H. Chris Van Allsburg amazes me more and more with each book that I read. His plots are unpredictable and very imaginative. I love that the widow hid the broom so that it didn't get destroyed and then painted it white to scare off her neighbors. I thought it was hilarious that the widow's neighbors got so scared of the ghost of the broom (I laughed pretty hard when they decided to leave town because they deserved everything they got because of the way they treated the poor broom!). The illustrations are beautifully drawn in pencil. Just like Bad Day at Riverbend, the illustrations help the text just as the text helps the illustrations. They are integrated as one just as they should be. This book is really quite unlike anything else I've ever read.
I. This book is a good introduction to the supernatural. It's also a good example of the way you should treat others. The broom was minding its own business sweeping the road when the boys started harassing it. And boy did that family get its comeuppance! It could also be used to show loyalty and friendship after all the widow went through to save the broom from certain "death."