Heckedy Peg

Heckedy Peg

Audrey Wood

©1992

32 Pages

Ages 4-8

Summary

A poor mother once lived with her seven children who were named Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Each child wanted the mother to bring something back for them from the market. While she was away an old witch came knocking on the door and asked the children for a light for her pipe. The children were hesitant but consented when shown a bag full of gold. The Witch turned the children into food and took them back to her house. When the mother saw that her children had been taken, she set off in search of the witch. The witch was about to sit down to her meal when the mother knocked on her door. She tricked the witch into letting her in. The witch gave her a challenge to decipher who each of her children were, if she could not then the witch would have them for her supper. The mother knew each child by what he/she had asked her to get from the market. The children turned back into themselves. The mother chased the witch until the witch jumped off a bridge and was never seen again.

This picture book was beautifully illustrated and had a wonderful moral. Though the reason the children were kidnapped was because they had disobeyed the directions their mother had given them, the mother was willing to chop off her own feet in order to get them back. There are a few things that may be disturbing to children if they linger on the details, but over all it is a wonderful book.

Other Books by the Author

Oh My Baby Bear

Elbert's Bad Word

Rude Giants

Silly Sally

Little Penguin's Tale

Tugford Wanted To Be Bad

The Red Racer

Weird Parents

Alphabet Adventure

Alphabet Mystery

Alphabet Rescue

Balloonia

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear

Birdsong

A Book for Honey Bear: Reading Keeps the Sighs Away

A Dog Needs a Bone!

Bright and Early Thursday Evening: A Tangled Tale

The Bunyans

The Deep Blue Sea

Detective Valentine

The Flying Dragon Room

Heckedy Peg

Into the Napping House (pop-up book)

Jubal's Wish

King Bidgood's in the Bathtub

Little Mouse and the Big Red Strawberry

Magic Shoelaces

The Napping House

Orlando's Little While Friends

Piggies (co-authored by Don Wood)

Presto Change-o

The Princess and the Dragon

Quick as a Cricket

The Rainbow Bridge

Scaredy Cats

Sweet Dream Pie

Ten Little Fish

Three Sisters

Tickle-Octupus

The Tooth Fairy

Twenty-Four Robbers

When the Root Children Wake Up

The Christmas Adventure of Space Elf Sam

A Cowboy Christmas: The Miracle at Lone Pine Ridge

The Horrible Holidays

Merry Christmas: Big Hungry Bear