THE BOY WITH TWO SHADOWS

From the much-honored New Zealand novelist, a revised, newly illustrated picture book that was first published in 1971: A little boy takes such good care of his shadow that a witch prevails on him to babysit with hers while she goes on vacation. The witch's shadow is not at all well-behaved—it rummages among other shadows and causes accidents; but the boy gamely keeps it out of mischief as best he can, even after it chases away his own shadow. Finally, the witch (sporting a Mickey Mouse shirt) reclaims her wicked shadow, rewarding the boy with the ability to become, temporarily, a camel; better yet, his own shadow returns. Mahy, of course, brings considerable wit to telling this wry fable; Williams' colorful illustrations, which have a sweet realism rather like Shirley Hughes' work, accentuate the humor and pathos of this very personal loss and reunion.