Meg, Mog and Owl find themselves at sea in this fourth picture-book adventure, when an outing to the seaside, a wish to go sailing, and one of Meg's spells all lead (predictably) to disaster. Stranded on a tiny desert island after a tumultuous storm brought on by Meg's efforts to scare up a breeze - "Mermaid's tail / Lobster's toe / Octopus wriggle / Blow wind blow" - the three companions survive as best they can, until rescued by helicopter.

As always, I enjoyed this quirky outing with the witchy/feline/strigine trio, and think it would make an excellent story-hour selection for younger, preschool children. The simple text and brightly colored artwork are sure to appeal to a toddler audience, while the sound-words and exclamations give the adult reader plenty of opportunity to add excitement. As an added educational bonus, a brief reference to Morse Code is made, in the scene in which Meg flags down the helicopter. Now: on to the next installment in this witchy series, Meg's Castle! ( )