Babysitter woes, with some Spanish and spookiness thrown in.

Babysitter woes carry a witchy twist, which guarantees a tiny dose of scares and more than a few unexpected surprises.

While the well-done bilingual side of this read already makes it worth a peek, it goes beyond that with its spell for fun. This child is anything but excited about the new babysitter, and the imagination goes wild before the babysitter walks through the door. Or does it?

This book allows imagination to filter into reality until the two are impossible to decipher or keep apart. The witch...umm bruja...holds all sorts of tricks in that black sombrero and knows more than a few potions to keep children in line. Still, her hidden smile during all those wicked moments keeps the readers wondering how much evil is behind the mystical moments. The child, though, definitely has their hands full as they try to outwit the bruja and survive. It creates a fun scene with unexpected twist and unexpected turn from one page to the next. Giggles, gasps, ooos and ahhhsss are guaranteed.

The illustrations let the magic shine and bring in tons of witchy moments, letting the reader sink into every scene. Even here, reality mixes with imagination to make the reader forget which side they might be on. Plus, the details are a treat.

And the bilingual side cannot be forgotten. Spanish words dribble in here and there. Never are they defined but simply used every now and then in a way that readers will automatically understand what they mean even if they've never heard the word before. Many of them are close enough to their English counterparts to make guessing easy and remembering even simpler. Young readers can easily adapt these into their own word usage.

It's a cute picture book and is a fun, educational read. I received a DRC and found it to be such a fun tale! ( )