16) Earwig and the Witch

Bibliography: Jones, Diana Wynne; Earwig and the Witch; Greenwillow Books; New York; 2012; 115 pages; ISBN 978-0-06-207511-6.

Plot: Earwig is an orphan living at St. Morwald’s Home for Children.  She is perfectly content being an orphan.  She has been able to manipulate the staff and the other children at St. Morwald have to do as she pleases.  She always gets just want she wants at St. Morald’s.  On a day when the orphanage opens up to show prospective foster parents the children available to them, Earwig is selected by Bella Yaga to come live in her home.  When Earwig gets to her new home, she learns that Bella Yaga is a witch and she expects Earwig to be her slave.  Earwig must overcome Bella Yaga to make herself the head of the household, just as she had been at St. Morwald’s.

Review:  This is a great book.  If you have a reluctant reader or an early reader looking for a good book on witches, this is just the book to suggest.  The book reads very fast and will grasp readers from the first few pages.  The story is told from a third person narrative and does a wonderful job of including all of the characters into the story.  After Earwig learns that Bella Yaga is a witch, she expresses that she hopes Bella Yaga will teach her witchcraft as well.  However, Bella Yaga only wants Earwig to be her slave.  Bella Yaga expects Earwig to crush bones and pick weeds for her spells.  When Earwig realizes that Bella Yaga is never going to teach her witchcraft Thomas, the cat, comes to Earwig’s aid and helps her learn how to concoct spells.  Together, Earwig and Thomas learn the right spells to put Bella Yaga in her place.  Readers will love the illustrations, along with the story. 

Genre: Fantasy/Witchcraft

Interest Level: age 9 to 12

Related Books: Which Witch? By Eva Ibbotson; Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones; The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French

Characters: 

Earwig – the protagonist

Thomas – the black cat that helps Earwig

Bella Yaga – the witch that takes Earwig from St. Morwald’s

Mandrake – the man that lives with Bella Yaga

Awards:

DWJ has been awarded the British Fantasy Society’s Karl Edward Wagner award for her significant impact on fantasy.  She has also been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Society.

Author Information: http://www.dianawynnejones.com/dwjflash.htm