Which Witch? - Softcover

Ibbotson, Eva

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330398008 ISBN 13: 9780330398008

Publisher: Pan Childrens, 2001

Synopsis

Arriman the Awful, feared Wizard of the North, has decided to marry. But his wife must be a witch of the darkest powers...

A sorcery competition is held to discover which witch is the most potent and fiendish, and glamorous Madame Olympia conjures up a thousand plague-bearing rats! Belladonna, the white witch, desperately wants to be a wicked enchantress, but her magic produces flowers instead of snakes. How can she become more devilish than all the other witches?

`Eva Ibbotson weaves a magic like no other. Once enchanted, always enchanted.` Michael Morpurgo

About this title

Review:

Arriman the Awful, Loather of Light and Wizard of the North, needs a wife. How else can he have a wizard baby to carry on the family tradition of blighting and smiting, blasting and wuthering? The problem is, wizards can only marry one kind of person--a witch. Arriman dreads the thought. "A great black crone with warts and blisters in unmentionable places from crashing about on her broom! You want me to sit opposite one of those every morning eating my cornflakes?" But a witch it must be, so Arriman holds a contest to decide which witch. The local witches are all atwitter over what spell they'll perform for the contest--all except Belladonna, who is, to her great shame, a white witch. She looks rather like the girl on the Clairol Herbal Essence bottle, with a sweet face and flowing blonde hair. "There was usually something in Belladonna's hair: A fledgling blackbird parked there by its mother while she went to hunt for worms, a baby squirrel wanting somewhere safe to eat its hazel nuts, or a butterfly who thought she was a lily or a rose."

Black spells are cast, enchantments are woven, and even Belladonna manages to do a little damage in this wonderfully clever 1979 book by Eva Ibbotson (of The Secret of Platform 13). Young readers will delight in the way Ibbotson glories in the ghoulish and the gory--and in her engaging characters who are kindly and fiendish all at once. Which Witch (finally reissued in the United States) begs to be read aloud, with before-bed-length chapters and lots of opportunities for funny voices. (Ages 9 and older) --Claire Dederer

About the Author:

Eva Ibbotson writes for both adults and children. Born in Vienna, she now lives in the north of England. Her husband was a naturalist who taught her to value even the smallest and most unattractive animal – and her four children and seven grandchildren showed her that ghosts, wizards and witches are people like ourselves ‘only madder and more interesting’. She has written eight other ghostly adventures for children.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pan Childrens
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0330398008
• ISBN 13: 9780330398008
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 208