In case you haven’t noticed, much of the content in this issue verges on the whimsical. Coco Blignaut’s latest literary effort takes whimsy and fantasy to the max in her third children’s picture book, “Hansel and Gretel.� The Beloved Witch, as she is still known by Topangans, says she is “proud, exhausted and relieved� to finally release her new book and website (darlingchildbooks.com). Blignaut, who writes under the nom de plume of Coco Mary, describes her books as “Modern adapted fairytales and original stories told in lyrical, poetic language, featuring foreign languages and cultures. The pictures invite us into magical earthy worlds with real people, elements from nature, and handmade objets d’art.�  “Hansel and Gretel� is awash in colorful collages, originals designed and published by the author, that will entertain children with an abundance of visual food for thought and discovery. I compare the concept, not the execution, with the Richard Scarry books that my son and I used to read together when he was little. There was so much detail in the pictures that we would talk as much about the visual story as we did reading, and learning the words.