The Witches by Roald Dahl

The Witches by… …Roald Dahl

Published by, Jonathan Cape Ltd, Thirty Two, Bedford Square, London.

1983.

This book was an absolute pleasure to read, from the offset it catches your interest with its vivid description of the witches that you will meet later on in the story, told as though they could be sat right next to you as you are reading. That interest stayed with me right up until the last page. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the story unfold, meeting all of the characters and learning for myself just how far the imagination can be stretched.

The story revolves around a grandmother and her grandson who have been unfortunate enough to stumble upon an annual meeting of witches at a hotel, hosted by the ever terrifying, ‘Grand High Witch'. She catches the child ear wigging and turns him into a mouse, with the help of a secret potion; he did however hear their plans to destroy all the children of England before this cruel incident. Even though he is a mouse for the last three quarters of the book, a plan is concocted with his grandmother to destroy all of the witches and save the British children from extinction.

To describe the story as powerful may be an exaggeration in terms, the story however is extremely enjoyable, and I do believe that all sorts of children of different ages would agree. The excellent imagination of Roald Dahl certainly makes the plot and characters very convincing, especially for those readers who are too young to know that those type of witches do not exist, although I can not be one hundred percent sure after reading this masterpiece.

Along the way we meet some magnificent characters. From the snotty nosed hotel owner, to the fat kid that never stops eating. My personal favourite is the Grand High Witch. The way that she is written is so convincing and the way other characters react to her, with the utmost fear and admiration is hilarious to follow.

There are a variety of emotions felt with every paragraph but the way that the humour is incorporated in with the excitement, fear and danger is superb.

Another factor which adds to the enjoyment of this book is the way in which the text is laid out; simple and larger than your average novel. This made reading The Witches a lot more appealing than if it were just block text. For many children it may be daunting to see page after page of purely just text.