Which Witch?
Digital version – browse, print or download
Can't see the preview?
Click here!
How to print the digital edition of Books for Keeps: click on this PDF file link - click on the printer icon in the top right of the screen to print.
BfK Newsletter
Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!
Cover Story
Cover illustration and those on these pages from Football Crazy by Colin McNaughton, Piccolo £1.25 0 330 26747 7 (published April 1982). Also available in hardback from Heinemann, 434 94991 4, £4.95. We are grateful to Piccolo for their help in reproducing this illustration in full colour.
A substantial comic fantasy, reminiscent of some Diana Wynne Jones but less weighty. For a wizard seeking a 'blighting and smiting' successor, the only apparent solution is marriage, so ... a witchcraft competition with Arriman's hand as prize for the blackest magic. How will he get the beautiful white witch Belladonna, not one of the grotesque old hags or terrifying Madame Olympia? Conventional structure slows the pace but frequent jokes keep it alive. A fair bet for experienced 10 -- 13s with a taste for such material and a good source of extracts to inspire more detailed descriptive passages in kids' own work.