The disturbing use of scare tactics to reform a mean-spirited, nine-year-old bully lies at the heart of this bilingual English/Spanish story. One-dimensional Zulema is "the meanest little girl in the whole wide world," equally unleashing her wrath at children, adults, puppies and kittens. But she finds her comeuppance in her 90-year-old grandmother, who warns her of the Witch Owl that "always comes looking for mean little boys and girls" and takes them away. Undeterred, Zulema continues in her ways, but at night she investigates a tapping at her window and discovers the oversized, white-feathered body and creepy wide eyes of the Witch Owl, ready to take an instantly reformed Zulema away. With a suspicious white feather falling from her hair, Grandma intervenes to assure Zulema that it was just a bad dream. Lurid gouaches paint grotesque expressions, and the device of a vignette of the grandmother's face gradually transforming into the frightening bird adds to the disquieting theme. What might work well as an oral cautionary tale translates into a detrimentally moralistic book. (Picture book. 6-8)

Gr 1-4 Nine-year-old Zulema is about to lose her reputation for being the meanest girl in the whole wide world. From throwing rocks at people who did not buy her Girl Scout cookies to making dogs and kittens swing around until they spin like airplane propellers, she is a terror. Then a visit from her grandmother changes her behavior. Sabina advises her that if she does not mend her ways, the Witch Owl will take her away. Garza effectively portrays this threat in his artwork by bringing the characters closer and closer to readers faces. His whimsical illustrations create a feeling of being inside the scenes. As in his other books, his passion for heroes, wrestling, and creepy creatures is in evidence. The transformation of Sabina into the Big Owl helps create suspense. The end of the story remains open: an owl feather is falling from Grandmothers hair. Could she be the Witch Owl? This title offers suspense, fun, and surprise. Irania Macías Patterson,Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, NC