Heckedy Peg

Written by fourth generation artist, Audrey Wood tells the tale of seven children named after the days of the week are left alone while their mother goes to town to buy them each an item for being well behaved. Before she leaves the children are told not to allow strangers to enter their home and

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don't play with fire. A witch strolls by and everything changes for the children when she casts a spell on them; a spell that only their mother can break. The story unfolds through the beautifully illustrated pictures that almost tells the story without words.
I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to reading more from this author. The story was told in a manner that makes you want to turn the page and see what happens next. The illustrations are worthy of framing. The spell being broke by a mothers love for her children is so easy to identify with being a mother myself.
As a class extension, the days of the week can be incorporated through a memory game asking which child wanted what from town. A lesson can be taught about talking to strangers and allowing them to enter the home. Another lesson that can be learned is what can happen if you play with fire. The students could also be asked if they could pick one item for their parent to get them what would they choose?

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This is a fantastic old story. The illustrations are of the rich, painting-like quality, and the story itself has a nice logic to it. It has a Little Red Riding Hood/Lon Po Po plot, but with a clever mother instead of the children, and a match-up puzzle.

Another great book by the Woods! A mother leaves her 7 children named after the days of the week to go buy each of them a gift of their choosing. A witch, Heckedy Peg tricks the children into disobeying their mother. The children are transformed into food, mother with the help of a blackbird breaks

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the spell, guessing which child is which by the food that they are. Mother knows! A stunning book, beautiful paintings, clever and fancy. Delightful countryside depictions and spooky forests, May scare children under 5

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A mother of seven told her children not to let any strangers in the house while she went to the market. While their mother was gone, the children were bribed by Heckedy Beg to let her in. Once inside the house, Heckedy Peg turned the children into food and took them with her. When the mother

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returned and saw that her kids were gone, a blackbird told her what happened and took her to them. When the mother had to guess which food was her children, she guess correctly and the children changed back into kids. This is a good story for any grade. I liked it because it can teach students to do what they are told and listen to their parents.

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This book talks about how a mother takes care of her seven children. After her children finish their chores one day, she decides to go to the market to get each of them something. While she is gone, the children do something their mother told them not to do. They let a witch into the house and she

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was a stranger. The mother returns from the market and her children are gone. A small bird takes her to her children and she runs the witch away.

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A mother tries to save her children after a mean witch changes them into different kinds of food. This is a great book to teach children about obeying their parents.

'Heckedy Peg' by Audrey Wood tells the story of a poor mother and her seven children. The mother must go to the market and is forced to leave the children home alone. She tells them not to let anyone in and not to touch the fire. The children do not listen and open the door for the witch. The witch

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captures them and plans to eat them for supper. When the mother returns home she cannot find her children but know who must have gotten them. She goes to the witch and tries to get them back. This folklore story is longer and better for older students.

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This is a fun book about a mother who leaves her children to do house work while she runs to the market to get her 7 children a treat for being good. The mother tells her children to not let strangers into the house and not to play with fire. Well, the children did both of these things. The

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children let in a witch by the name of Heckedy Peg who turned them all into foods and took them back to her place. The mother eventually found Heckedy Peg and had to guess correctly on the first try which food was each child so she would turn them back into children. Good for Halloween.

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A little long for storytime, the children don't listen and let a witch into their home, she turns them into food. Then the mother must save them by matching what they asked for from town with the food they have becomed. A wee bit odd for this generation.

This book is about a mother who save her seven children from a witch that talks them into letting her in then turns them into food. Has a strong moral story, the childrens names are the days of the week. Is based off of an old 16th century English game that is still played today. Has all of the

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elements of a fairy tale, and will enthrall young children as the stay glued to the pages.

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This is a story about a mother who has to rescue her 7 children from a witch who has cast a spell and turned them into food for her to eat. It's a fun read for children and great for determining who is a hero and who is a villain. It can also incorporate the days of the week because all 7 children

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are named for each day of the week.

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A mother who names her children after the days of the week, must save her children who have been turned into their favorite food by a mean witch. This story teaches the importance of following directions and truly knowing your loved ones. I chose this book because it is one I loved when I was

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young.
Category: Building community

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Summary: This is a story about seven children that disobey their mother and let a witch into their house. The witch turns them all into food and gathers them up for a feast. Their mother goes to the witches house and must play a guessing game with the witch to win her children back.

Personal

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Reaction: I loved this book! The illustrations were amazing. The story is wonderful and I would definitely read it to my children.

Classroom Extention: 1. This book would be good to use as a lesson in obeying and following the rules. 2. This book would be good to read in the Fall because the colors in the illustrations are very rich. But it also talks about witches and a feast such as Thanksgiving.

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A wonderful story with gorgeous pictures. One of my favorites from when I was a kid.

This story captures the sense of a folktale with the poor mother of seven children and a witch who likes to eat children. It also captures the power of a mothers love, she will do anything to protect her children.The pictures beautifully emulate the mood, emotion, and feeling of the story.

When their mother, setting out to the market in town, must leave them home alone, seven rambunctious siblings - named for the seven days of the week - keep to her instructions at first, refusing to open the door for strangers, or to touch the fire. But a crafty witch named Heckedy Peg (who'd lost

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her leg) soon comes along, tempting them with a bag of gold, and - when they finally do admit her to the cottage - transforming them into various food items! It falls to their determined and resourceful mother, returned home with the items they requested, to rescue her children from the witch who plans to eat them...

The third picture-book from storytelling team Audrey and Don Wood that I have read - the previous two being King Bidgood's in the Bathtub and The Napping House - this tale of a family that triumphs over the machinations of one very evil witch is an absolute delight! I enjoyed the story, appreciated the clever way in which the items each child requested from the market matched up (in various ways) with the food into which they had been transformed, and really liked the fact that it is the mother who is the hero. As for the illustrations, done by Don Wood in oil, they are simply gorgeous - a pure visual feast! All in all, Heckedy Peg is just a delightful book, one I recommend to all young fairy-tale lovers, and to fans of the Woods.

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This is yet another illustrated children's book that drew me in and caused me to marvel at the stunning beauty of the illustrations.

Inspired by a 16th century children's game, the author and illustrator fashioned an incredible story book.

When seven children, each named for the days of the week, are

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left alone while their mother goes to market, they are cautioned not to let anyone inside and not to touch the fire.

Soon, the very two things they were told not to do, become the unraveling of their life as an old witch, who lost a leg, begs for entry and a light for her pipe.

For a sack of gold, the witch is allowed entry.

As the children dance with burning sticks of fire, Heckedy Peg changed the children into food, gathered them up and took them deep into the forest.

When the mother returned from market, a blackbird told her what he witnessed and pointed the way into the forest.

As Heckedy prepares to eat Tuesday, mama rescues the day playing the witches game of requesting her to identify the child with the food item it became.

Successful, the children were transformed back into human form. Chasing the evil witch throughout into the town and onto the bridge, Heckedy Peg jumps and is never seen again.

Highly recommended.

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it's a fun book and a little scary and mysterious. But this book is great for making connections and it's engaging since the story is quiet scary at certain points. It has the days of the week, things children shouldn't do and good/bad decisions and it's a great book to ask kids about guesses and

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predictions.

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Grade K-3
Modern fantasy
This book does a good job of combing the themes of magic and a mother's unconditional love for her children. In the story the mother goes to the market to buy her seven wonderful children gifts. Unfortunately, while she is gone Heckedy Peg comes to the door and asks the

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children if she can come in. At first the children are wise and say No, "Mother told us to not let a stranger in." After a little coercement and a bribe of gold the children let Heckedy Peg in. They immediately know they have made a mistake when she turns each child into a dish for her feast, and she takes them back to her cave to eat. Luckily the mother is able to use magic (a talking bird) to find their location. She saves her children by guessing which dish is each child. I like how the mother was so clever as to guess which food item corresponded to which child. She did this by thinking about the gifts they had asked for from the market. Without the cleverness and maternal instinct of the mother all of the children surely would have been dinner for wicked Heckedy Peg. Another aspect of this book that I found to be exceptional is the illustrations. The illustrations are done by Don Wood and are extremely artistic and realistic. I also felt they did an excellent job of conveying the emotions of the characters. Even the fish (the fifth child) looked terrified when it was sitting on top of Heckedy Peg's table. After the reunion of mother and children the family chased the evil witch out of town and Heckedy Peg was never seen again.

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Read this years ago but didn't remember it well so decided to again. Glad I did. Powerfully gorgeous illustrations. Puzzle concept clever. Sense of story and text imperfect. After all, for example, if mother has seven children and is noted as being poor, how does she buy seven presents at market?

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And if the children are so good, how are they so easily fooled? Still, a quality book for any library or collection of picture-book fables.

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