Book Review: Not Just a Witch
What Parents Should Know
The author mentions a number of fairly brutal crimes. No
descriptions are given, but you may find her casual treatment
of them, in the context of a humorous fantasy aimed at
middle-grade children, problematic.
Common Sense Media Review
Eva Ibbotson is loved by her many fans for her lighthearted
fantasies filled with amusingly eccentric characters, usually
adults, and this one fits the form. Simpler than
The Secret of Platform 13, it is more like
Which Witch?. But where that book took a light
approach to the macabre (rats and ghouls and black magic and
such), that same approach is rather disconcerting when applied
to all-too-real crimes, such as abuse of old people and
animals.
Ibbotson's bizarre sense of humor has been compared,
with justification, to Roald Dahl's, which sometimes bothered
adults even as it delighted children. But there is a big
difference between the ridiculous unreality of James's parents
being killed by an escaped rhino, and the all-too-real scene in
this book when one of the children is found after having been
beaten into bloody unconsciousness by the adult villain. Though
nothing is described graphically, the insertion of bits of real
brutality into a humorous fantasy aimed at 8-year-olds is
jarring.
From the Book:
Obviously a witch on the most important day of her life
is not going to turn up in a straw hat trimmed with daisies or
a bonnet threaded with sky-blue lace. Heckie thought for a long
time and then she ordered a hat made of living snakes.
The snakes were mixed. The crown of the hat was made of
ribbon snakes most delicately woven; edging the brim were king
snakes striped in red and black; and a single black mamba,
coiled in the shape of a bow, hung low over Heckie's
forehead.
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