Earwig and the Witch Diana Wynne Jones

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Everyone knows that orphanages are horrible places. But Earwig has a surprising amount of power over everyone else at St Morwald's Home for Children, and loves it there. So the last thing she wants is to be sent to live with the very strange Bella Yaga...

Earwig was left at St Morwald's as a baby. Unlike the other children, she loves it there, mostly because she has the run of the place and seems to be able to persuade people to do as she wants. Then one day Earwig is chosen to live with a very strange couple: Bella Yaga, her new 'mother', is actually a horrible witch. Earwig will need all her ingenuity (and some help from a talking cat) to survive...

With terrific line drawings that perfectly complement Diana's witty, magical story, this is sure to appeal to a new generation of fans.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

This funny story updates fairy tale conventions while highlighting Jones's subversive wit and her firm belief that children can control their own lives. Earwig rules the roost at St. Morwald's Home for Children until she is adopted by a witchy woman named Bella Yaga with "one brown eye and one blue one, and a raggety, ribby look to her face." Earwig hopes to learn magic from Bella Yaga, but is trapped in the woman's decrepit house, sharing it with the Mandrake, an impossibly tall and grouchy being. Powerful and evil, Bella Yaga uses Earwig as a second pair of hands for grinding up disgusting things in bowls ("The only thing wrong with magic is that it smells so awful," Earwig quips). The witch and the Mandrake, however, have never before dealt with a determined girl who claims alpha status; Zelinsky's spot art, not all seen by PW, makes it clear that the squinty, pigtailed heroine is not someone to be trifled with. Featuring delightfully odd characters and eccentric magic, this all too brief tale is a fine introduction to the late author's more complex YA novels. Ages 8-12. Agent: Laura Cecil. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

Gr 2-5-Earwig is a most unusual girl. As a baby, she arrived at St. Morwald's Orphanage under mysterious circumstances. Since then, she has possessed a strange affinity for making the staff do exactly what she wants-from preparing her favorite meals to buying her new clothes. For this reason, Earwig goes out of her way to avoid being adopted. Then comes the fateful day Bella Yaga, accompanied by Mandrake, her sinister shape-shifting sidekick, arrives at St. Morwald's and takes Earwig to do her grunt work. Slave duty doesn't even come with magic lessons. But with the help of Thomas, a feline familiar, Earwig outsmarts the witch in a most ironic way. And before long, she has both Bella Yaga and Mandrake under her control. This appears to have been the first in a charming new series, cut short by the author's untimely passing in 2011. Earwig is a plucky, albeit bossy, heroine, and the story is packed with wit and humor. Zelinsky's illustrations enhance this imaginative tale.-Alissa J. LeMerise, Oxford Public Library, MI (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Only in an unorthodox children's book does a girl hope that she won't be chosen by a family and taken away from the orphanage. But then, Earwig isn't your typical orphan. Although she was never told that her mother was a witch, this resolute, resourceful child does seem to have a mysterious ability to get her own way. Even when cruel Bella Yaga chooses the girl and takes her away to live as her servant, Earwig quickly picks up enough magic to turn the tables on the old witch. Written for a younger audience than most of the magical novels by the late Jones, this early chapter book offers an amusing story in which it takes hard work as well as magic and cleverness to bring about a happy ending. Zelinsky's expressive drawings, some not seen in final form, perfectly capture the offbeat characters and the droll tone of the text. A refreshing change of pace for young fantasy fans.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist

Horn Book Review

From the start, readers of this early chapter book fantasy will know that Earwig is not your average orphan in distress. With her "very strong personality," she is perfectly happy at St. Morwald's, mostly because "everyone, from Mrs. Briggs the Matron to the newest and smallest children, did exactly what Earwig wanted." So when she is adopted by an unpleasant witch named Bella Yaga (whose only interest in Earwig, it turns out, is as slave labor) and her horned, nine-foot-tall, fire-demon companion, we're not as worried as we might be. And indeed in very short order Earwig has made a friend in the witch's familiar, a talking cat, and has teamed up with him to get her own back. This little fillip of a novel is over almost before it begins, but while it lasts readers are treated to a nonstop plot, memorable characters, and signature DWJ touches: a bungalow that is much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside; demons who enjoy prosaic pub food. An accessible page design incorporates Zelinsky's plentiful line illustrations, the best of which (Bella Yaga pinching herself with the two extra hands Earwig has magicked her with, the fire-demon walking through a wall) are showstoppers. For younger readers, a worthy introduction to the delights of the late, lamented master fantasist. martha v. parravano (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

(Fantasy. 7-9)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.