cbr17bingo Purple (cover)
Recently I said in another review you can judge a book by its cover. Sometimes there is something about it that lets you know it is going to go in X direction (or XXX as a recent coloring book with an Alice from Wonderland in a dress so short you can tell if she was a natural blond or not). Thankfully the cover of Hocus and Pocus and the Spell for Home by A.R. Capetta and illustrator Charlene Chua tells a radically different and much more family friendly story.
And that story is a Cute story with Cute illustrations. Two Cute puppy siblings who want to stick together when they leave the shelter to live in a forever home. And they have their equally Cute other siblings who are okay going to solo homes. There are Cute mischievous antics and there are Cute and messy spells. You have three Cute apprentices to a young good witch (who has a Cute outfit and broom) and each one has their own magical specialty. We even have a modern element with one apprentice going by she/her pronouns; the second him/him pronouns and the third they/them pronouns.
Maybe things are a bit too mischievous or rambunctions (after all puppies do get up to all sort of trouble) but most kids will have fun with this sibling duo.They will be rooting for them as they are found by a local witch, brought to the mostly magical animal shelter for mostly magical animals (I really would like the turtle that changes colors), and giggle at the antics Hocus and Pocus get up to trying to stay together and what they get into while searching the witches home. You see color and minimal details and you see the mayhem and trouble with bold illustrations and it all comes together in Cute chapters.