The Not-So-Wicked Witch
by Bethan Stevens (Author) Bethan Stevens (Illustrator)
On the sleepiest of nights, when the air is still and the moon is full, the conditions are just right... for witches to take flight!
And among all these terribly wicked, cackling witches, is one... who is actually, surprisingly quite nice!
This little witch doesn't enjoy being wicked like the others. Not one little bit. She doesn't like creating mischief, she doesn't like making a mess and she definitely doesn't like any naughtiness!
The other witches decide that the littlest witch needs rescuing from all this icky, gooey goodness! It's time for some lessons in wickedness, and the best way to do that is by making a completely terrible and utterly awful potion...!
Will our little witch leave her kind and gentle ways behind her and join in the wickedness? Or will she persuade her fellow witches that actually, being wicked isn't all it's cracked up to be?
This playful take on spooky witches from the award-winning Bethan Stevens takes readers to a magical world of wickedness and kindness. This is the wonderfully funny follow-up to the prize-winning Grumpy Fairies and the fairytale twist A Damsel Not in Distress.
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Publishers Weekly
Stevens plays with wicked-witch tropes in this empathic tale of a protagonist who doesn't quite fit her peers' mold. Thin-lined, desaturated illustrations open with depictions of a googly-eyed cast of witches causing mischief by stealing socks, leaving muddy footprints, napping on a "bed" of flowers, and more: "Ever stepped on a pointy toy with bare feet? A witch put it there." But the troublemaking cohort decides that the littlest witch, a gentle soul with "kindness in her heart," needs "rescuing from all this icky, gooey goodness." They task her with acquiring items for a potion that will allow them to steal marshmallows (their favorite food) from a birthday party. It's the protagonist's sweet form of sabotage that offers readers a cheery rather than eerie takeaway: "kindness beats wickedness." Characters are portrayed with various abilities and skin tones. Ages 4-7. (Aug.)
Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Review quotes
"Are witches always horrible? Not according to the sweet heroine of Stevens' new book, who persuadesher fellow witchest hat being wicked isn't all its cracked up to be." —The Bookseller
Bethan Stevens is an illustrator based in London. After finishing her BA in English literature, she embarked on the MA in Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art to learn how to make stories with pictures as well as words. When she's not drawing she can be found reading, writing and attempting to track down the tastiest almond croissants in London. Grumpy Fairies was her first picture book with FLCB which was the winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, Best Illustrated Book Category in 2021.
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV012040 - Juvenile Fiction | Fairy Tales & Folklore | Adaptations
Picture books
Conduct of life
Witches
Sabotage
Practical jokes
Malicious mischief
