When you think of children’s authors one name that always springs to mind is Roald Dahl, his children’s stories are always fun to read, whether you are young or old, child or adult. They are engaging, fun and darkly humorous with fun expressive language. While I have read many of his books, exploring chocolate factories, meeting friendly giants and even enormous crocodiles, I have just finished reading one that I have never read before – The Witches, and it’s an absolutely phizz-whizzing read (as in the Gobblefunk language created by Roald Dahl to stop his readers getting bored).
The Witches is not your typical children’s book. It’s a darkly humorous tale that combines fantasy with a dash of reality, and it’s all wrapped up in Dahl’s signature style of storytelling that’s as delightful as it is wicked.
Now we all know that there are no such things as witches, with their pointy hats and their black capes bellowing out behind them while flying around on their broomsticks, don’t we? Well, that’s what they want to believe anyway.
This story takes us on a wild ride in England and Norway with a young boy and his grandmother as they uncover the secret world of some very real witches, not the pointy hatted, cloak wearing type we read about in fairy tales. These witches appear to be everyday normal women, until you look REALLY closely and see the subtle differences. They hide their bald heads under wigs that itch, dress their hands in gloves to hide their clawed hands, have wider nostrils, fire and ice in their eyes and their toeless squared feet are hidden in high-heeled shoes. Oh, and they have a deep-seated hatred for children and want to rid the world of them, apparently all children stink of dog poo (well the clean ones anyway). Dahl’s witches are indeed a very terrifying bunch hidden beneath normality and respectability.
After a 7 year old boy loses both his parents (he is only ever referred to as Grandson rather than an actual name), he goes to live with his Grandmother in Norway. She loves to tell him stories and regales him with tales of very real witches who detest children and want to do away with them. Sceptical, he is not quite sure if to believe her or not … until he meets his first witch!
After moving back to England, he and his Grandmother go on holiday to Bournemouth and as chance would have it the witches of England are also there having their annual meeting. After hearing them discuss their plans to rid the country of all its children by turning them into mice, the boy is caught and he is turned into a little brown mouse. Escaping the witches clutches he and his Grandmother come up with a plot to thwart the witches and turn the tables on them.
Overall, I found The Witches to be a fantabulous read, a very entertaining adventurous fantasy novel. While it is a book for children aged 9+, it is quite dark and scary, some young readers might not want to read it or even be frightened while reading it (it might be best to read it for yourself before giving it to your child; it has themes of death, making children disappear, encouraging smoking, and is at times, quite violent – especially with the witches wanting to squelch children).
“Squish them and squiggle them and make them disappear”
While it is a fantasy adventure novel it would also be at home in the children’s horror genre. The story is a testament to Dahl’s storytelling genius, his ability to craft a narrative that’s both entertaining for children as well as for adults is superb.
The Witches is a fantastic fantasy story packed with adventure and fun and a little bit on the scary side. It is a lot of fun to read. And it will leave you keeping your eye out for glove wearing women who are always scratching their heads … they could just be a witch in disguise!
Roald Dahl’s The Witches is a fun and vastly entertaining story that has adventure, fun and scares as well as looking at love and compassion, right and wrong. Not a book for everyone, especially children who scare easily, but I found it an excellent well-written story and loved the fun and darkness of the tale.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £9.99 (Hardback) / £6.99 (Paperback) / £5.99 (Kindle)
For more information, visit www.roalddahl.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
DISCLOSURE: All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review uses an affiliate link which I may receive a small commission from if you purchase through the Amazon link.
