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Where dragons take flight, through the dark of the night. Where the fire ignites, you will find the light.
Aunt Cauldroneyes is always looking into cauldrons. She's found everything from giggling moons to troll nose rings, but when she looks inside a purple cauldron one stormy night, she finds a girl with blue freckles.
The old witch raises the girl and names her Spella. They live in Hungry Snout Forest in a crooked house with doors enchanted to smell like chocolate. In the attic full of floating fabric and biting buttons, Aunt Cauldroneyes teaches Spella how to make magical hats for creatures like unicorns and dragons, giants and goblins.
When Spella turns eight, she receives an invitation to Dragon's Knob, a school for wand witchery and wizardry. But on the very night Spella is set to leave, a stranger appears with a growling hat that swallows Aunt Cauldroneyes and steals her away!
To rescue her aunt, Spella must go up into a sky full of dragons and to her new school. With protesters outside the gates threatening the school's academic freedom and a deepening mystery within the walls, Spella and her new friend Tolden are thrust into the mystery of her aunt's disappearance and a long-buried secret hidden somewhere in the school.
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
September 24, 2024 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781665955324
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781665955324
- File size: 11786 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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July 1, 2024
A young witch searches for her missing aunt while attending her first year of magic school. Spella De-broom Cauldroneyes, who's just turned 8 and has bright blue freckles, was found as a baby by Mathilda Cauldroneyes, a green-skinned magical milliner. Also living in their house in Hungry Snout Forest are many anthropomorphic hats, from miniscule fairy hats to a giant hat that solves jigsaw puzzles. When Spella receives an invitation to attend Dragon's Knob, a school for wand magic, she initially resists, not wanting to leave her beloved home. But when Aunt Cauldroneyes disappears into the maw of a hat that was dropped off for repairs by a mysterious wizard, Spella travels to the school in search of answers. Once there, she befriends a boy named Tolden Tutters, who uses a tiny dragon as a hearing aid, and studies topics such as the ancient languages of unicorns, all while trying to find information on her aunt's whereabouts. This series opener is bursting at the seams with charming details such as cauldron-shaped windows and chocolate-flavored curtains. The characterization and plot development sometimes take a back seat to worldbuilding, but there's enough action to keep readers invested in Spella's quest to find her guardian, and the sheer charm of Spella's world will win over fantasy lovers. Rubio's spot art adds to the sense of whimsy. Sure to please fans of magical boarding school adventures. (Fantasy. 7-11)COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Starred review from December 13, 2024
Gr 3-7-Dr. Seuss meets Harry Potter in McDaniel's latest book-a romp through a world that is both wild and weird, bubbling over with unexpected insights and charming details. Spella De-broom Cauldroneyes, an orphaned eight-year-old, lives with her aunt in the Hungry Snout Forest. She's happy there, but she feels out of place. She isn't a thread witch like her aunt, and her blue freckles set her apart even among magical folk. Everything gets worse when Aunt Cauldroneyes disappears, and Spella must search for answers at Dragon's Knob, the school for wand keepers like herself. Across Spella's journey, she encounters a thousand small delights-grumbling desks, miniature dragons, teachers with birds in their hats and marsh water in their shoes. She and her friends grapple with everything, from disability to the after-effects of climate change, but their lessons are always gentle and never didactic. Spella's coterie of friends, from flying hats to mummified cats, provides an endearing support system for her as she navigates the highs and lows of leaving home for the first time. VERDICT Recommended for readers of fantasy, and especially those who enjoy playful language and highly imaginative settings.-Talea Anderson
Copyright 2025 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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