BOOK REVIEW - My First Little Workbook of Wicca

My First Little Workbook of Wicca by Rev. Velvet Reith © 2007 Full
Circle/Willow Tree Press ISBN 0-9794533-0-5 193 pages Paperback $16.95
(U.S.)

This book was a real surprise to me for a couple of reasons. First, I wasn'
t expecting it (I wasn't even aware it had been published). Second, most
children's books on the topic of Paganism I have seen have been exclusively
Pagan oriented - everything in them has been Pagan-related. This book not
only provides a typical Pagan A-B-C, each letter is accompanied by an
illustration to color and a page of lined paper to practice printing the
letters, as well as the word. This is really thoughtful for those parents
who have not run out to pick up a pack of paper for their little ones to
use.

Then there are sections on colors and numbers. All of them are intended to
be used by children without the necessity of a great deal of parental
involvement. They are intended to let children work at their own pace.

Moving beyond these basic concepts there are pages devoted to activities,
such as sequential recognition, size comparison, which one doesn't belong,
and some pages devoted to developing individual imagination and creativity,
as well as a couple of mazes.

Then the concepts become more specifically Pagan - associations with
pentagrams and directions. There are some interactive goodies for children
and parents to share. There are also some "adapted" songs and prayers to
give them a sense of order and belonging, which is always (in my opinion) a
good thing.

There are some basic attributions (days, planets, and items associated with
them as well as astral colors, before moving on to alphabet and number cards
which are designed to be removed (perforating these pages might have been an
idea to facilitate their removal) and glued to card stock. Some suggestions
are provided for games and other uses of the cards.

Finally there are a few more pages of lined paper and a copy of the cover
graphic which can be colored.

This is one of the nicest, most useful books for pre-schoolers that I have
seen in a long time. The only way that it could have been improved, in my
opinion, would have been for it to be spiral bound to make it easier to lay
flat, or to perforate all the pages, so Mom or Dad could run extra copies
easily.

Sure it's a little pricey, but aren't your children or grandchildren worth a
few extra dollars? This is a wonderful gift which will more than pay for
itself with the gentle, non-dogmatic approach to introducing children to
Pagan concepts. I highly recommend it to all Pagan parents and
grandparents.