The Little Witch

Reading the paper in bed this morning I came across the obituary for children's book author Otfried Pressler.

In 4th grade I became rather obsessed with his book The Little Witch and filled sketchbooks upon sketchbooks with my own version of the the Little Witch doing witchy things in Brooklyn, like flying over a row of brownstones and water towers on a broom.

I almost never read the obituaries (because I'm a wimp and I get really saddened by sentences like "He is survived by his wife of 58 years"), but I'm so glad that today I did since I have been racking my brain for YEARS to remember this man's name and the name of his series. (Which yes, is quite obvious-- but it almost seemed too obvious, you know? The Little Witch?)

Years later  I still ADORE these illustrations. The line work, the supposedly simple yet deceivingly sophisticated color schemes. I'm honestly tempted to start drawing her all over again!

And looking at these illustrations again, it's no surprise that years later I am enamored with Steven's nib pen work:

Thank you Victoria Stitch for tracking down this version of the book! All illustrations from The Little Witch are via her website here.