The Witch Family (Odyssey Classic)

Rating:
Summary: A Childhood Favorite
Review: As a child, I stumbled upon this book and absolutely loved it. The heroine is a little witch girl living with the Old Witch, the witch baby, and Malachi the bumblebee. There is a sweetness and innocence that pervades this book without making it seem too "cute." A must-have for any Eleanor Estes fan! Glad to see it's still in print.

Rating:
Summary: If you think it all started with Harry...
Review: Forty years before Harry Potter, there was Hannah.

Bookstore displays which feature "if you like Harry Potter you might like these" should place this book and LeGuin's "A Wizard of Earthsea" in prominent view.

What is most satisfying about this story is that it is simultaneously real and imaginary; the events take place, but are also somewhat directed and controlled by the imaginations of the two human girls at their drawing table in Washington, so that, in a way, they are witches too. This is the same premise as Pamela Dean's "Secret Country", and creates the same complications. But this book is easier for much younger children to read, making a good introduction to the concepts.

This was out of Estes' usual territory, and she handled it with both silly fun and knowledgeable grace. Ardizzone's done his homework as well; look at the posters on the walls at Hannah's school. I would give this to any child six years old and up.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite book from my childhood
Review: This book captured my imagination as it has my children's. They love it as much as I did in the 60's, where I must have checked this book out from the library 20 times. I was delighted to find an old copy still in the library, and started searching to find my own so that we could read and reread the magical stories of Hannah, Weenie Witchie and Old Witch. Malachi was always my hero, and the two brave little 7 year olds, Clarissa and Amy reminded me often of my best friend and our adventures in fantasyland. Take time to cherish this book again and again. It is a book well worth the effort. Bless the publishers for putting it back in print.

Rating:
Summary: A Lasting Classic
Review: This was a favorite book for both me and my sister when we were little. I lost track of the number of times I read it, sadly our copy has been lost. I just recently found it in the local public library and have read it to my third grade class. My students loved it, both the boys and girls. I would recommend the story to anyone, it's fun and written in a way that both children and adults will love.

Rating:
Summary: A childhood classic!
Review: When I was a little girl I loved all books having to do with magic, and especially witches. This book was my all-time favorite. I checked it out of the library so many times that eventually the card in the back was filled up with my signature on both sides!

This book is about magic, but it's also about the power of imagination. The Witch family, all though very real in their own right, have been created out of the mind of little girl who's mother first introduced her to them. Amy appoints herself caretaker to the witch family, and through the pictures she draws of them she can keep tabs on all that is going on in their world "up on the great glass moutain".

A benchmark of good childrens literature, this book holds up under the test of time. I have re-read it as an adult and still enjoyed it very much. I can't wait until my own children are old enough for me to share it with them.