Lelia, a young witch, is one of those young people who succeeds easily. She is accustomed to winning the awards and blue ribbons. This year, Lelia has hopes of winning a cake-off. The problem is that baking doesn’t come as easy as so many other tasks. She tries but the cakes fall or slide.

When Leila’s sisters offer to help, Leila, must accept their help if she wants a chance in the Cake-off. And, as a plus, Leila has fun with her sisters.

This is a very sweet children’s story. The message of accepting help and sharing a workload is clear and engaging. Since I listened to the audio, I didn’t get to enjoy what look like charming illustrations. I recommend the story and it might be good to get the audio and the print book to share with children.

Audio Notes: Marisa Blake does a very nice job with the narration. Her voicing enhanced my enjoyment of the book, even though I did miss the images.

Source: 2022 NetGalley. My Rating 4.5.

After absolutely falling in love with Gustavo the Shy Ghost, naturally I was excited for Flavia Z. Drago's next book! Leila Wayward is a high-achieving, little witch who excels at everything she does and has the trophies to show for it. After excelling with her amazing skills in potions, herbology, and alchemy now she has her eyes set on winning the Magnificent Witchy Cake-off and adding another trophy to her shelf. Leila is the youngest in a long line of masters of the Dark Arts of Patisserie, so she enlists the help of her three sisters to help perfect her entry. Filled with expressive and fascinating illustrations, and the return of a special guest character, this is the perfect sweet and spooky read for all little witches and baking masters.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

*received for free form netgalley for honest review* This was a really cute little book, shows that even perfect people lose and don't let that set them back!

Cute story with a fun message. I am looking forward to adding this to my Halloween collection. Kids will enjoy this one in a read aloud or on their own.

I received this book as an audiobook ARC from the publisher for my honest review.

Leila is a young witch who wins trophies for her amazing skills as a witch, but her dream is to win the Witchy Baking Competition. As she practices she finds it is something that is difficult for her. Instead of giving up her sisters help her get better. She doesn’t win the competition, but Leila was glad she had a fun time.

This story is a fun cute way to teach kids about how not everything is easy to do, but you can ask for help. It also teaches that losing ”isn’t so bad.” Having fun is what is important. I would have liked there to be a bit of hope at the end of the book though. Something like if she keeps practicing she could win next year’s competition.

My daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Leila’s story at bedtime. We loved hearing about all the ways she excelled and when she found she was floundering, my daughter suggested she should ask her friends for help. She was so excited that Leila took her advice and wasn’t too frustrated to go on.

This book held its own as an audiobook….I would love the one with illustrations to read in my classroom.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to enjoy this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed the author’s previous book, Gustavo the Shy Ghost, so I was excited to read Leila, The Perfect Witch. The story is about a young witch who enters a baking contest and is determined to win. It's a short book that helps illustrate the importance of persistence, being open to help, and having fun. Narration was wonderful and would be a great companion to the physical book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Unfortunately this one didn’t keep my 5 year olds interest in audiobook form. The narration was fine and I’m sure with pictures it will be a cute read during spooky season.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the alc in exchange for an honest review.