[.ca] Witches (ISBN 0224021656)

From Amazon.com:
"This is not a fairy tale. This is about real witches." So begins one of Roald Dahl's best books ever, and, ironically, it is such a great story because the premise is perfectly plausible from the outset. When the narrator's parents die in a car crash on page two (contrast this terribly real demise with that of James's parents who are devoured by an escaped rhinoceros in James and the Giant Peach), he is taken in by his cigar-smoking Norwegian grandmother, who has learned a storyteller's respect for witches and is wise to their ways. The bond between the boy and his grandmother becomes the centerpiece of the tale--a partnership of love and understanding that survives even the boy's unfortunate transformation into a mouse. And once the two have teamed up to outwitch the witches, the boy's declaration that he's glad he's a mouse because he will now live only as long as his grandmother is far more poignant than eerie. Of course, there's adventure here along with Dahl's trademark cleverness and sense of the grotesque. Dahl also communicates some essential truths to children: if they smoke cigars, they'll never catch cold, and, most importantly, they should never bathe, because a clean child is far, far easier for a witch to smell than a dirty one. (Ages 7 to 10, or read aloud to younger children)

The Witches:
The Witches Witches are make believe people that can do magic, but once you read The Witches by Roahl Dahl you might rethink what you believe in. "A REAL WITCH is one of the most dangerous of all the living creatures on earth." The two main characters are the grandson and the grandmother. The grandson and his grandmother have a plan to ruin the witches and stop kids from disappearing off the earth. The story varies between hiding in a conference room where you could be vanished or turned into a mouse and going into the high witches room and steal their key to vanishing children (delayed mouse maker) from Norway or the earth or climbing a tree for your life. Roalh Dahl creates character that you can't believe. The grandma in this book is not what you would picture a grandma. Her job was a job that you didn't even know exists! A withogrophist (someone who studies witches) she is very strong and won't give up on something that she has set her mind to. She can survive through what no grandma has before and came out of it very healthy. The grandmother is my favorite character and I love the way he put the characters together. The grandson is very brave when misfortunes happen to him, is determined when he sets his mind to something and he would risk his life for other kids. Roil Dahl's ideas are nothing like an idea that you would see in a book and they are very unique, I would say they are very good and creative. He uses an idea (like witches) that isn't necessarily real and makes them as real as ever and makes you wonder and look out for woman with gloves, wigs and that totter a lot in your neighborhood. He thinks in the mind of the character and plans what their next move would be when they wanted to over come all the high witches and he thought how they would. And he won't stop creating unique and great ideas. The book takes place in the Grandmas house in Norway where she tells her grandson about the witches and what they do to you. She also tells him stories about what happened to kids that ran into witches. It also took place at a hotel in England by the shore, which I think is a good place for a story because it feels like there is more of a chance of mischief to be done there because it is so big. In the hotel the grandson gets into a misfortune in the conference room and a mission in the kitchen to save the other kids. This setting is effective because the reason he is there is because he can't get caught playing with his mice and a ball room which was used as a conference room is a good place to hide if you think about it. In this book there are three main themes. One theme is not to judge people by their looks. I learned this by reading about a very pretty lady and it looked like she was very nice but she actually was a witch and she could've done something to the grandson. The second theme is not to go where you shouldn't because you could get into a lot of trouble like turning into a mouse or getting caught by the grouchy manager. And my last theme is to keep away or don't go with people you don't know or could be dangerous. I learned this when the grandson avoided a woman with gloves scratches her head and he avoided her and being vanished off the earth too. Roahl Dahl is one of my favorite writers and I think you will like him too. I loved this book and I would definitely recommend it to you because it is full of adventure suspense and on the occasion a very funny part. This book is for ages 6-11 I think. After reading this book it made me feel like there might actually be witches. And if you read I think you'll love this book too.

The Witches Book Review:
THE WITCHES is about a boy who doesn't have a name. Throughout the story, the kid is called boy and darling. Boy, as I will call him, is living with his Grandmother. His grandmother tells him all of these crazy stories about witches and how to identify them. Boy at first doesn't really believe his grandmother until he's locked in a room full of witches. Will he get out? Will he die? Read the book to find out. "I didn't really like the book" Lindsey said, "I thought it was boring, plus the author didn't give enough information, so it left me off with lots of questions that wern't answered." Katie has the same oppion as Lindsey. "I like the plot and the whole book, but my questions wern't answered." Katie said. Erica said," I liked it and I would recommended, but there were some boring parts in it. Hannah said," It was pretty good, I loved it. Yes I would recommend it to kids. Only those who don't believe in witches, though."

The Witches:
A young boy's parents who dies in a car crash and he has to go and live with his grandma in Norway. There are alot of vocabulary in this book you should read! I learned that witches wear wigs so if you read this book, you will learn alot about witches. I recommend this book review by Rould Dahl

Best Time of Your Life:
BOOM! Another kid gets turned into a mouse! This book is The Witches by Roald Dahl. This book is about a little boy and his grandmother who goes to this hotel and meets these witches. The witches hate all kids, and want to destroy all kids. The grandma and the little boy go and try to destroy all the witches. This book is an eye catching book. This book The Witches is a good book because it shows the persons character really clearly. One example from the book is the little boy went and tried to save Bruno. That clearly explains that the little boy is brave because he risks his life just to save Bruno. This book is has sophisticated characters. This book is impressed me because it has a really interesting problem. The problem is amazing because it is suspenseful and, would want you to read more. The best part about the problem was how everything flowed together. One example is when Bruno got turned into a mouse and, the only person they thought could save him got turned into a mouse. I thought that was really suspenseful because I was wondering before I read the end, how will they turn back to humans. The Witches is a book that flows really well together. What I enjoyed is how the book solved the problem in a unique way that no other book has. I think every book should solve the problem in a unique way or it isn't a book worth reading. I think how this solved the book was really good because it gives a straight forward ending to the problem. I would tell but don't want to ruin the book for you. Another reason The Witches is such an interesting book is because it tells everything in detail. One example is when they brought Bruno in. They actually really describe how Bruno acts like a pig and would do anything for food. This is like when there was a big stack of food on a table and, he kept on eating and eating until all of eat was basically done. It is also very understandable. This helps little kids who first start reading to love books. This is because if the books are easy and interesting they will like it. The Witches has amazing writing which will make the book suspenseful. This is not the type of book that is hard to understand. Once you start reading this book, you would not want to put it down. Why waste your time now, when you could read this book. If you don't read this book you will regret it. By:Christina

Another Wonderful Book by Roald Dahl!:
They are completely bald and always wear wigs, constantly sneaking hands underneath to scratch their itchy scalps. They don't have any toes and have really broad feet, but they force their feet into narrow, fashionable shoes to blend in. They have really long, curved fingernails that they usually hide by wearing gloves. They are the witches. And the meanest, nastiest witches live in England, where a boy has just gone to live with his grandmother after his parent's tragic death. His grandmother always warned the boy about suspecting nice women who offer him candy - check for gloves, wigs and pinched feet. He is able to avoid the witches until his grandmother becomes ill and they go to a seaside resort where the English witches are having a convention just like normal people in the hotel. Stunned, the boy overhears the grand witch's plot to eliminate all of the children in England by feeding them candy that will turn them into mice! When he is discovered, the boy knows that the witches are going to kill him, but they test the potion on him instead. Now in mouse form, the boy and his grandmother must use all of their wits and cleverness to defeat the witches' evil scheme! The Witches is a highly entertaining book by the always inventive Roald Dahl. You would think that a book about witches would be scary, but Roald Dahl has just the right combination of humor and lightheartedness to balance out the scariness. I loved this book when I was growing up and have enjoyed sharing it with my younger siblings and nephews. It is true that it has a couple of slow parts as the author takes the time to set up the story, but the storyline is just so imaginative that you get caught up in the story and don't really notice until you have read it a couple of times. With all of the many details, Roald Dahl can easily convince you that witches are real and that there really are women out there like that! Humor aside, it does show that you should never take candy from strangers - no matter what they look like! Although this book is great for reading alone, it is best when real aloud and shared with children, who always know the right parts to gasp at!