Let's Cook up some fun
with Gritch the Witch

What’s For Dinner?: Besides pies made of piggies, bunny bread, eekspresso, batscotti, rat-tail-tooey, and brew-ha-ha, what else does Gritch’s belly grumble to eat? Have students add their own imaginative recipes to the witch’s Old Hag Cookbook.

Sequels: What happens next to the wolf and Foxy?

Homophone Fun: Make riddles and jokes using homophones. (source: The Dove Dove, & Eight Ate by Marvin Terban.) Which One? Have students act out the ‘which one’ dialogue.

Art Smart: Find all the funny design and illustrative elements Howard Fine as used throughout all the books. Discuss how illustrations extend and complement the text.

Wordplay: Discuss alliteration, puns and parodies.


Use Your Noodle: Create an address book of Gritch’s friends. Who will she be inviting to her monster bash? (Examples: Mummy, Dr. Frank N. Stein and his new bride, Sam Witch.)

Sisters!: Gritch the Witch’s sister, Mag the Hag debuts in Broom Mates. Ask children if they have a B(roomie) Write about sibling. Draw a family portrait.


All Art Copyright Howard Fine
Piggie Pie! published by Clarion Books
Zoom Broom and Broom Mates published by Hyperion Books for Children