I Will Be Reading Aubrey Plaza’s Witch Book, Thank You

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I Will Be Reading Aubrey Plaza’s Witch Book, Thank You

This week,  Aubrey Plaza stopped by The Today Show to promote her new children’s book, Luna and the Witch Throw a Halloween Party. When she wasn’t kissing a plastic pumpkin and peering into a bubbling cauldron, my favorite spooky sorceress shared her inspiration for the book: in short, her abuela. Cue the “aw’s.”

The protagonist of Plaza’s story is Luna, a young girl who aspires to be like Pheenie, an older, wiser witch. Pheenie happens to need a hand throwing a successful Halloween party, so in return for Luna’s help, she agrees to teach Luna spells and potions. Shit, I’m 31 years old and I’d read that. 

“Shoutout to my grandma, Margie,” Plaza told Today. “She taught me from a very young age that life is a party and no matter what happens, we have to have fun and move forward, and so I think this book was inspired by that.”

Plaza added: “I think on both sides of my family, I have a lot of witchy women that raised me, so this is an homage to all the women in my life.”

It’s been a challenging year for Plaza. In January, her partner of 14 years, writer and director Jeff Baena, died by suicide. At the time, Plaza issued a joint statement with Baena’s family, calling his death an “unimaginable tragedy.” The statement continued: “We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.” Since then, Plaza has remained largely out of the public eye save for a few appearances in which she’s spoken candidly about navigating grief.

On Amy Poehler‘s podcast in August, Plaza compared her sorrow to the Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy film, The Gorge.

“In the movie, there’s like a cliff on one side and there’s a cliff on the other side, then there’s a gorge in between and it’s filled with all these like, monster people that are trying to get them,” she explained. “At all times, there’s like a giant ocean of awfulness that’s like right there, and I can see it. Sometimes I just want to dive into it, and just like be in it. Then sometimes I just look at it, and sometimes I try to get away from it. But, it’s always there.”

Plaza further told Poehler that it was the “ancestral witches” in her life that had gotten her through.

Everything is bad right now. Who doesn’t need a picture book about witches??? Thanks, Aubrey!


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  • Sarah Jessica Parker wore wings to the New York City Ballet 2025 Fall Fashion Gala. [Just Jared]

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