Book excerpt: By the bestselling author of "Escaping the Holocaust" Julian Padowicz from Scholastic Books comes a wonderful, whimsical tale of a good witch and her pet cat Laptop! Mrs. Parsley is a good-witch who, with the help of her magical cat, Laptop, substitutes for the likes of Santa, The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy, and the various Fairy Godmothers, when they have more work than they can handle. However, since she does not have the specialized magic powers that they possess, she is challenged to find creative ways to carry out these duties. Stories included in this collection: Mrs. Parsley Makes a Delivery Mrs. Parsley Helps the Easter Bunny Mrs. Parsley Helps Out on Halloween Mrs. Parsley Bends the Rules on Thanksgiving Mrs. Parsley Helps Santa Out Mrs. Parsley Drops in on the Hardings Mrs. Parsley and the Dog Without a Name Mrs. Parsley Talks with Todd Mrs. Parsley Crashes a Party Mrs. Parsley Has a Great Grandchild Mrs. Parsley Takes a Vacation Mrs. Parsley Repays an Old Debt Mrs. Parsley, We Don't Do Miracles