Florencia Baliña

Maca the witch is stuck at home, unable to fly and very bored, in this picture-book from Colombia. With the rain bucketing down outside, she sits in bed and imagines the joy of flying on her broom. Interrupted by her cat Ambar, Maca discovers that this faithful feline has brought her a very special gift: The Wishbringer ("El Cumplidor de Deseos"), which will grant her wishes, all without any wandwork. Accepting the potion without hesitation, she rushes outside, where the rain has cleared and a bright blue sky awaits her. Had the Wishbringer done its work, or had the desire to fly, so deeply embedded in her heart, been the real cure for her flightlessness...?

Sadly, I do not speak or read Spanish with any fluency. That said, when I happened upon La Bruja Maca over on The Internet Archive, as part of my regular hunt for new (or new to me) picture-books with witchy content, I simply couldn't resist, and as it had never been translated, I decided to try reading it, despite my deficient linguistic skills. I'm glad I did, as I found the story cute, and the artwork quite interesting. Using various online dictionaries and Google translate to understand the text—some more idiomatic phrases, like the one about it raining cats and dogs, required further investigation—I feel that I have a grasp on the story itself, although I remain unable to analyze the language, or to comment on whether the story is well told, from a literary perspective. In any case, despite the drawbacks of approaching a book in this fashion, I do think the effort was worthwhile, not simply because I enjoyed the witchy themes and artwork, but also because this is the first children's book from Colombia that I have ever encountered, and it was interesting on that score. I did have questions—chief among them: how did Ambar find the Wishbringer (which was advertised on TV), in order to bring it to Maca?—but overall this was a fun witchy tale, one which made good use of a common theme in such stories, across countries and languages, it would seem: a witch who is experiencing difficulty in achieving flight. Recommended to Spanish-speaking picture-book readers looking for witchy fare.… (más)