2.5 stars, I suppose. While a cute, quick read, this was definitely less advanced than much of his other work. It blazed through the build and climax incredibly quickly and easily, leaving no tension at all. The ending was endearing, and the relationship between the grandmother and her grandson were the most heartwarming of all.

Warning: Extremely Long Review and Childhood StorytellingWhen I was ten or eleven, I was sitting in the playground at summer camp, minding my own business and reading this book, when one of the playground supervisers came and asked me what I was reading. When I showed it to him, his eyes got wide and he took the book from me. Then he went to the trash can and started ripping it up, page by page. And he washed his hands afterwards, "to get rid of the filth." It was a library book. He was just goi...

I've noticed for years and years that critics love to say that Roald Dahl is "spinning in his grave" over some such filmic adaptation of his works. I'm a curious type person so I had to look up what the hell was in his grave, anyway. He was buried with pool cues, his typewriter and pencils (backup?). Guess he'd need to hustle his way past the pearly gates? I'm kidding! Don't dance on my grave. (Gosh, real critics are so harsh.) If he's spinning I guess there's plenty in there to make lots of rac...

My daughters and I had just wrapped up the audiobook of The Witches with Miranda Richardson yesterday, having listened to it all week in the car, and we were still blissed out on those wonderful, awful witches. . . .. . . when this idiot playground dad got in my way.So, the story goes like this. . . I'm an animated woman. I love stories, both listening to them and telling them, and I love a good joke, too. And I found myself, yesterday, engaged in conversation with a playground dad's mother, her...

Re-read for our classics discussion Friday 10/30! Still had me giggling from the very first chapter.

The story of the young unnamed narrator and his grandmother living between Norway and England and affronting the Great Witch and her minions was delightful and fun. It would not be in my Top 5 of Dahl though (I appreciated the two Charlie books, the BFG, the Magic Finger and James and the Giant Peach more.) I love reading them to my kids in any case and getting all excited on what crazy twists the stories will take.

Finally! After all the ups and downs, I finally re-read a book by Roald Dahl (my favourite author from my childhood) and end up liking it just as much! I was honestly losing hope for this. This is a surprisingly creepy, funny rollercoaster of hilarious adventures, plot twists and straight absurdity from the good ol' crazy Roald! Absolutely delightful.

Roald Dahl is one of the best and my favorite children's writer. He's a master in depicting ordinary details in excellent manner. Uptill now, I didn't find anything written by him which I don't love. ♡

Roald Dahl is in my top 3 of favorite children's authors. I had read a few of his books as a child, but most of my exposure occurred as a young adult and while in college.The Witches was actually a book I read after the movie with Anjelica Huston was produced. I am a huge fan of her work, and when she appeared in this movie, I was fascinated with the story. I'd definitely recommend reading the book first as the movie takes the story so much further.For one thing, the book has an unnamed narrator...

"Down vith children! Do them in!Boil their bones and fry their skin!Bish them, sqvish them, bash them, mash them!Brrreak them, shake them, slash them, smash them!Offer chocs vith magic powder!" Oh, thank goodness for the likes of Roald Dahl, who can combine the scary with the funny stuff and open a treasure chest of children's fairy-tales with all the wisdom humanity is capable of (which, of course, still is quite limited).As a child, I was terrified and fascinated at the same time when I read t...

I didn't know what to expect when I started this book. Believe it or not, this is the very first Roald Dahl book that I have experienced. I enjoyed this book tremendously. This chapter book tells a story of a grandma, a grandson, and their journey together is ridding the world of 'real' witches and saving the world's children. I will be reading more of this author for sure. I would recommend this book to everyone. It is a fun read and well worth the experience!

My introduction to the fiction of Roald Dahl is The Witches and this is one of those books whose language and imagination are so exotic that I wanted to scribble down every paragraph, until the story pulled me in and I surrendered to its spell. Published in 1983 with illustrations by Quentin Blake, I was presented a 30th anniversary edition for Christmas--by a dear friend on Goodreads--which includes Blake's etchings. Without the mischievous charcoal drawings to accompany it, Dahl's text alone w...

Things that are cool:-a cigar-smoking grandma who encourages you to take safe action-investigating -solving problems-witches with accentsThings that are creepy:-Having to stay a mouse the rest of your life-Feet without toes-Pet mice that go missing and are never found-A boy who is never reunited by his family, or even mouse-trapped-Talking about dying while in bed with your grandmotherRoald Dahl never worked for me as a kid. I distinctly remember picking up James and the Giant Peach and being si...

I am currently trying to read all of Roald Dahl's books! When reading this book I realized that I definitely read this when I was in elementary school :) It brought back some memories. I loved this book and the creativity and that Roald does with this story line.

I am not, of course, telling you for one second that your teacher actually is a witch. All I am saying is that she might be one. It is most unlikely. But--here comes the big "but"--not impossible. After the tragic loss of his parents, a young boy goes to live with his much beloved grandmother. He soon learns of the impossible - witches exist. And they're sole joy in life is to find ways to make children disappear. Preferably in nasty and mysterious ways.We soon discovers how to recognize a w

The Witches, Roald Dahl The Witches is a children's fantasy novel by the British writer Roald Dahl. It was originally published in 1983. The story is set partly in Norway and partly in the United Kingdom, and features the experiences of a young British boy and his Norwegian grandmother in a world where child-hating societies of witches secretly exist in every country. The witches are all ruled by the extremely vicious and powerful Grand High Witch, who in the story has just arrived in England to...

"A REAL WITCH hates children with a red-hot sizzling hatred that is more sizzling and red-hot than any hatred you could possibly imagine." So starts a splendiferous tale about a young boy telling his personal story about the absolute horrors of being turned into a mouse after having some run-in with the real witches! Although these witches weren't quite the cannibalistic ones found in "Hansel and Gretel", they, nonetheless, attract children with a smorgasbord of treats, confectioneries, and d

“It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like, so long as somebody loves you.”Rating: ⭐⭐⭐❗❗May contain some spoilers.❗❗This won't take long, don't worry. I know I'm 24 years old and probably outgrew children's books but I JUST DON'T CARE. They are AWESOME and relax me.I liked it. I really did. It's an entertaining story that children could definitely enjoy. There's a reason Roald Dahl is still so famous years after his death. I liked the plot, the rhyming, and the fun fonts of words that

I was a very sheltered child. Or was I a wuss? I was probably a wuss. For instance, when I was a little tot, Sammy Terry scared the shit out of me. I remember being frightened by commercials of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, and the one time I inadvertently saw part of a Friday the 13th movie on TV? Fogettaboutit. Nightmares for weeks. But that all came later. But this book. Oh, this was traumatic shit. I was in preschool, probably 4 years old, when the teacher decided to read us The Witch...

I grew up watching the 1990 version of Witches, and despite its scariness, (When Angelica Houston removed her mask, my little jaw dropped!) I always loved the film. It wasn't until I heard about the 2020 remake (Also a great movie!), that I developed a curiosity about the original book. Much like Roald Dahl's other works, it is an easy read, has great characters, and there is just an expected dash of magic in each of his works that makes them all so special. This was no exception and even my sev...