The Witches
by Roald Dahl
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 11472)
Read in July, 2008
recommended to Natalie by:
Swiped off of Frank's bookshelfThis review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in January, 1985
recommends it for:
5th graders. And their parents.
The way my life is recently, I'd be lucky to be able to finish reading the headline of the Post before having to attend to something else.
So in the absense of any meaningful free time in my life, I will be reviewing books from years past, the glory days when I could actually curl up on the couch and fall into a story. Or in the case of Roald Dahl, through the scary trap-door into bizarro world of teacher-witches, crazy chocolate factory owners, and insects live and chat with youngsters inside...more
So in the absense of any meaningful free time in my life, I will be reviewing books from years past, the glory days when I could actually curl up on the couch and fall into a story. Or in the case of Roald Dahl, through the scary trap-door into bizarro world of teacher-witches, crazy chocolate factory owners, and insects live and chat with youngsters inside...more
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I would love to know why I am the only person on the planet who did not like this book. I tried to find some bad reviews on GoodReads, but the only one and two star reviews said things like "Bad no like mousey! dlksk djglsk diewqls!" I'm assuming they were in a foreign language and not written by a kid who could not type, but I was too lazy to click on the profiles. Maybe I should learn the language and go live there, where we can all unite in our hatred of this book.
It seems to me...more
It seems to me...more
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Read in January, 1996
Warning: Extremely Long Review and Childhood Storytelling
When I was ten or eleven, I was sitting in the playground at summer camp, minding my own business and reading this book, when one of the playground supervisers came and asked me what I was reading. When I showed it to him, his eyes got wide and he took the book from me. Then he went to the trash can and started ripping it up, page by page. And he washed his hands afterwards, "to get rid of the filth." It was a library book....more
When I was ten or eleven, I was sitting in the playground at summer camp, minding my own business and reading this book, when one of the playground supervisers came and asked me what I was reading. When I showed it to him, his eyes got wide and he took the book from me. Then he went to the trash can and started ripping it up, page by page. And he washed his hands afterwards, "to get rid of the filth." It was a library book....more
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Read in June, 2008
I just read this book with Alexis. We are currently looking for the movie!! I saw this movie as a child. I must say that I actually like the movie better, but I loved this story. I had never read it before. I love the way Dahl writes. He is such a great descriptor. I think this book might have been terrifying to me as a kid. Lexi is more level headed. I just got so enveloped in a story that I felt it was real for a time. Lexi being intrigued by the witches and how they look and how the...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
7 to 10 year olds
This book was really fun! My goal lately has been to read some of the "classics" that I missed out on growing up. From Hemingway to Dahl. Big kid books and grown up books.
The Witches was fun. I loved Dahl's version of them - totally evil and bent on the impossible destruction of children everywhere! Their claws and toeless feet shoved into pointy little shoes are a riot! And I thought it was a great twist that there actually is no cure for what happens to the main character, a...more
The Witches was fun. I loved Dahl's version of them - totally evil and bent on the impossible destruction of children everywhere! Their claws and toeless feet shoved into pointy little shoes are a riot! And I thought it was a great twist that there actually is no cure for what happens to the main character, a...more
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Read in April, 2008
My six-year-old is reading this and I loved Dahl as a kid, so I picked it up last night (it was published too late for me to read when I actually was a child). Holy cow! This must be the most terrifying children's book I've ever read, with the possible exceptions of "Coraline" and "Candle in Her Room." Dahl is always great and often dark, but rarely to this extent. Vile female witches with long claws and scabby bald heads scheme to kill or transform children in horrible ways,...more
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recommends it for:
appropriate for ages 8 to 80
I don't think I've ever reread a book as often as I did with The Witches. Entertaining story, delightfully memorable characters, you couldn't ask for anything more in a children's book. But more than anything, this book is unfortunately one of the few connections I have with a long distant childhood; lazy afternoons spent eating cheese sandwiches and flipping though these well-worn pages, with what seemed like all the time in the world to do nothing at all, a reminder of a period in my life w...more
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Read in October, 2007
When I picked this book up I didn't realize it was the book version of a movie I had seen a few times and enjoyed. I had no idea the movie was based on a book, let alone this one. It was a pleasant surprise. The book and movie are quite alike.
In the book, witches live all over the place and are disguised as regular women. They hold an annual meeting where the grand high witch gives all the witches of a country their orders for the next year. Witches are really another species, naturally bald...more
In the book, witches live all over the place and are disguised as regular women. They hold an annual meeting where the grand high witch gives all the witches of a country their orders for the next year. Witches are really another species, naturally bald...more
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Read in January, 1999
recommends it for:
Everyone
This was the first book I read from Roald Dahl's collection and my favorite. Its a elementary book, which I read when I was nine, but I could still remember the story in my head. It's about a group of witches in disguise and they are out there to catch little boys. I don't quite remember the characters' names since it has been nine years. I always thought of this book as one of those moral tales that your parents tell you so that you would behave. Overall I rate this book a must-read book. Btw.....more
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This is a book about a boy and his grandmother and these evil witches. The boy and his grandmother go to a hotel were those evil wiches are going to!! The boy was turned in to a mouse like his friend. His grandmother and his friend and him have to find a way to get rid of the wiches and the leader witch wich is ugly and evil before they get rid of them. In this book the withes dont dresss in black and were pinty hats. They dress like real pepole and discise there horrible fingers and toes. They ...more
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Read in February, 2008
This book is really really awful. It takes the children's attentions and makes them to believe in witches. And also this is my favourite book that i have ever read. But now i am still reading his book, the tittle is [MATILDA}. I bought this book from Northland sec schoo,singapore. The reason i have bought this bookis because of [THE WITCH] one of his book.The witch, ention that the litte boy believed his grandmother's sayings. She knew detail about the real wirches. BUt when u read this book u w...more
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Read in September, 2007
Although i've read this at a time where i'm much too old for it, i enjoyed the experience to the fullest!
Having said that, i can't help but imagine what kids must be going through when reading it, for many a time i found things amusing rather than scary, only because i know now, that witches don't exist. But it probably instilled paranoia in kids, and i wouldn't be surprised if they were predisposed to think that every other woman is a witch :)
I like the concept, and am in awe of the aut...more
Having said that, i can't help but imagine what kids must be going through when reading it, for many a time i found things amusing rather than scary, only because i know now, that witches don't exist. But it probably instilled paranoia in kids, and i wouldn't be surprised if they were predisposed to think that every other woman is a witch :)
I like the concept, and am in awe of the aut...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
roald dahl lovers
I think that this is the best book Roald dahl is written.In this book Roald Dahl lets his imagination go wild and writes a book that sets him apart from even Enid Blyton.
The witches is abook about a ten year old boy who has just lost his parents in a car accident.He lives with his grandmother who tells him true tales about witches.She herself was a witch hunter.She tells him all the horrible things that witches are known to have done.
She tells him about how to recognise a witch and they ...more
The witches is abook about a ten year old boy who has just lost his parents in a car accident.He lives with his grandmother who tells him true tales about witches.She herself was a witch hunter.She tells him all the horrible things that witches are known to have done.
She tells him about how to recognise a witch and they ...more
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Read in April, 2006
recommends it for:
kids.
The Witches is about cruel "women" who want to enslave the world by destroying the existance of children. The main character, whose name was not mentioned once in the story, as I reread this book several times, and his grandmother, try to live a normal social life. However, wherever they go, unfortunate events that include witches occur. What this book taught me was that the mind can be even more powerful than power. The witches had the power to act like real women, and can use mag...more
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Read in September, 2007
LOVED LOVED LOVED IT! i read it when i was probably in 3rd grade. it was one of the best books ever. i could never put it down. i still love it.
The Witches is one of the most creative books i have ever written. Roald Dahl has a great imagination and is brilliant in creating something out of nothing. This humorous and creative story is about how a boy and his grandmother, who happens to be a witch hunter, defeat the witches that come their way.
When I start reading it, the temptatio...more
The Witches is one of the most creative books i have ever written. Roald Dahl has a great imagination and is brilliant in creating something out of nothing. This humorous and creative story is about how a boy and his grandmother, who happens to be a witch hunter, defeat the witches that come their way.
When I start reading it, the temptatio...more
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While on bedrest I decided to re-read my favorites from childhood. The Witches was just as good as I remembered. I just gobbled it up.
Just be careful and watch out for these warning signs I am convinced they still exsist:
Slightly larger, shell-shaped nostrils
Blue tinge to tongue and teeth (as their saliva is naturally blue).
Pupils that seem to change colour and have fire and ice dancing inside.
Always wears gloves to cover claw-like fingernails
Wears a wig to hide baldness a...more
Just be careful and watch out for these warning signs I am convinced they still exsist:
Slightly larger, shell-shaped nostrils
Blue tinge to tongue and teeth (as their saliva is naturally blue).
Pupils that seem to change colour and have fire and ice dancing inside.
Always wears gloves to cover claw-like fingernails
Wears a wig to hide baldness a...more
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A young boy loses his parents in a tragic accident and must live with his wise grandmother. She gives him survival tips about living among witches (the world's best hidden secret). This young boy is forced to become the hero who will prevent all the children in England from disappearing. Roald Dahl is such a unique author that I can't help but enjoy everything he writes. Despite its dark context, his stories are exceedingly intriguing and creative. The Witches is no exception. I love the idea b...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Children 6 and up
My kids and I listened to this one in the car. I initially thought that it was too scary. Some of the author's descriptions of witches are very scary. Add to that that they are snatching children out of plain daylight I figured my kids (8yrs and 5 yrs) would be having nightmares. However when I asked if they liked it I received a resounding 'YES'!!! And my daughter finally just told me to bring the tapes into the house so she could finish listening to the story. By then I was hooked as well...more
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یه نکته ای که در باره ی این کتاب جالبه پایان داستانه . با توجه به اینکه این کتاب برای بچه ها نوشته شده اما پایانی داره که یکم عجیب غریبه : پسر برای همیشه یه موش میمونه و قبول میکنه که به زودی میمیره . در حالی که رولد دال پایان رو خیلی شاد توصیف میکنه . فکر نکنم کسی بتونه بهتر از ای...more
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