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A Tangle of Brungles

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A Tangle of Brungles
by Shobha Viswanath
illustrated by Culpeo S. Fox
Chennai, India: Karadi Tales Company Pvt. Ltd.[2018]


Set deep in the woods, a coven of witches sets out to conjure up the wickedly vile Brungle. They set up their cauldron and start the spell. They add a quiver of cobras, a mess of iguanas, and a clutter of spiders, just to name a few of the many ingredients. By the end of the spell, they've conjured something, but is it Brungle?

This wacky take on witches and magic takes full advantage of collective nouns. Learning about different groupings of animals (a muster of peacocks, for example) or group of people (a banner of knights, for another) makes this book extra fun. Written in verse, it's best when read out loud. The cozy illustrations make this a perfect fall or Halloween book.
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