151 pages
English language
Published Jan. 5, 2001 by Macmillan Children's.
Heckie is a "good witch" who wants to make the world a better place by turning unpleasant people into animals.
When I saw that Ursula Vernon had listed Ibbotson as an influence, well, I had to check them out. Super extra specially pleased I did. It's a different sort of writing than much of Vernon's, but the same mix of good cheer and cleverness applied to deserving characters.
I particularly like Ibbotson's mad takes on ethics which show up exceptionally well here.
I read this one as a kid and really, really loved it, so I thought I'd give it a go as a read out loud book for my son. And I have to say.... It hasn't aged well. Well, in certain ways it has, and I don't regret having read it for him, and he really liked the story and its wild imagination and surprising twists to a deliberately predictable plot. I had forgotten how genuinely horrifyingly scary it was in places, I remembered it as only fun, but that's okay, that is not the author's fault.
But the book is steeped in sexist stereotypes and horrible body shaming which I of course was blind to as a child. I simply had to leave out or on.the-fly change certain parts just to take the worst edge off. This was a real downer since I remembered the books with such joy, …
I read this one as a kid and really, really loved it, so I thought I'd give it a go as a read out loud book for my son. And I have to say.... It hasn't aged well. Well, in certain ways it has, and I don't regret having read it for him, and he really liked the story and its wild imagination and surprising twists to a deliberately predictable plot. I had forgotten how genuinely horrifyingly scary it was in places, I remembered it as only fun, but that's okay, that is not the author's fault.
But the book is steeped in sexist stereotypes and horrible body shaming which I of course was blind to as a child. I simply had to leave out or on.the-fly change certain parts just to take the worst edge off. This was a real downer since I remembered the books with such joy, and it actually was very good, especially once we got to the last parts of it (the plot with Sir Simon and Madame Olympia is brilliant!) .
So... Mixed feelings on this one.
