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Earwig and the Witch

by Diana Wynne Jones, Marion Lindsay (Illustrator)

3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 · rating details · 513 ratings · 146 reviews

Most orphanages are horrible, but Earwig has a surprising amount of power over everyone at St Morwald’s Home for Children, and loves it there. The last thing she wants is to be adopted by the very strange Bella Yaga, demon-attended Mandrake, and talking black cat Thomas. Earwig wants to learn magic, but will need all her ingenuity and help from a familiar to survive. Expre...more

Hardcover, Childrens, 140 pages

Published June 9th 2011 by Harper Collins (first published June 1st 2011)

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Aug 15, 2012 Anne Toronto1 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fan, fun

"Earwig and the Witch" by Diana Wynne Jones, illustrator Marion Lindsay is delightful sweet fun with a titch of demon dark. Helpful front pages full figure cast. Hairs stick out, eyes bug out, mouths twist expressively on stick full-front people; top margin is crows on thorny line; spiders sprinkle around spookily.

On the doorstep of St Morwald's Home for Children, Mrs Briggs found a note pinned to shawl on a baby she called Erica Wiggs, and never told. "Got the other twelve witches all chasing...more "Earwig and the Witch" by Diana Wynne Jones, illustrator Marion Lindsay is delightful sweet fun with a titch of demon dark. Helpful front pages full figure cast. Hairs stick out, eyes bug out, mouths twist expressively on stick full-front people; top margin is crows on thorny line; spiders sprinkle around spookily.

On the doorstep of St Morwald's Home for Children, Mrs Briggs found a note pinned to shawl on a baby she called Erica Wiggs, and never told. "Got the other twelve witches all chasing me. I'll be back for her when I've shook them off. It may take years. Her name is Earwig." p23. Sets a series premise and itches for sequels. Earwig can make people do whatever she wants, ask the cook for anything, likes best pal Custard aka John Coster, and twists her expression to reject parents, until a far from ordinary couple arrive.

Bella Yaga has purple lipstick on "raggety, ribby" face, big red hat, bright green sweater, brown tweed suit, and sky-blue high-heeled boots p17; in a rage, her brown eye turns up, blue eye down. Attended by tame hoof-tail demons who fetch his desired menu, never anger Mandrake, or he stretches taller, thinner, "alight with black fire", eyes "red pits of rage", dark fire streams back from horns on his head, his huge clawed feet leave "smoking holes in the floor" p129. Earwig cannot escape, agrees to work hard for magic lessons, but Bella only wants an extra pair of hands for slave labor: grind, chop, stir.

Black cat Thomas runs from itchy bad evil work for familiar, but helps find "Grow Extra Body Parts" spell in the grimoire and talks, guiding Earwig all night making the requisite voodoo image, stopped by need for hairs from target. (view spoiler)(less)

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Dec 29, 2011 Nesa Sivagnanam rated it 5 of 5 stars

This very small book tells us about an orphan girl who is taken home by a witch.

Erica Wigg lives in a children's home and is perfectly happy to be doing so. It's a bright, happy place and everyone does what Earwig wants them to do. She has absolutely no desire to be adopted.

One terrible day, Earwig is chosen by someone looking to adopt a child. Two someones actually. The someone is a witch who comes with a tall, skinny, fiery young man.

The minute Earwig walks into the witch's home her whole lif...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Ann Haefele rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a disappointing book as the author has written some well reviewed books. This was published after the author's death which makes me wonder if she would have done some rewriting if she knew it was to be published. It is a story for 2nd-4th graders, and begins as a fun fantasy about an orphan named Earwig who happens to be a witch. She is adopted by another witch who is quite unkind to Earwig. Earwig, with the help of Thomas the cat, decides to have revenge with a combination of spells an...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Rebecca rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, cats-fiction, grade-1, grade-2, magic-fiction, orphans-fiction, witches-fiction, early-chapter-books

I thought I'd like this book but found it lacking. The story moves at quite a quick pace which is great but nothing in this book seems grounded or thought out. I'm convinced this book was meant to be first in a series for several reasons. We are introduced to primary characters that are never developed or disappear altogether right after they're introduced. I can only imagine that the author, who is now deceased, planned to expand their backgrounds and story lines at a later time. There were que...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Barb Middleton rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Fiddle-dee-dee! A nonsense word for a fun nonsense fantasy. A name like Earwig sets the tone along with a talking cat, witch, and demons. While this book is mildly entertaining and serves a much needed niche for low level fantasy stories, it isn't particularly well-done. On the plus side, the constant tension in the plot kept me turning the pages and the Mandrake is a somewhat scary monster, but on the negative side, there are no changes within the characters and they remain distant and vaguely...more Fiddle-dee-dee! A nonsense word for a fun nonsense fantasy. A name like Earwig sets the tone along with a talking cat, witch, and demons. While this book is mildly entertaining and serves a much needed niche for low level fantasy stories, it isn't particularly well-done. On the plus side, the constant tension in the plot kept me turning the pages and the Mandrake is a somewhat scary monster, but on the negative side, there are no changes within the characters and they remain distant and vaguely interesting. While I liked Earwig's gumption and positive attitude in a grim situation, she never came alive for me. I wanted to know more about the Mandrake and Custard as well. The unfinished feel to the plot, the lack of world-building, and undeveloped characters kept me from loving this book. In the end, I wanted more answers to my questions.

Earwig lives in an orphanage with her best friend, Custard. A witch and demon come disguised as ordinary people and adopt Earwig so she can help around the house. Earwig says she will come willingly if the witch will teach her magic in return for her assistance. When, the witch reneges on her promise to teach her magic Earwig is furious and gets back at the witch by learning magic on her own and turning the tables on everyone.

I liked some of the unpredictableness of the plot such as with Earwig's spell and the demon's response. More often I had questions. At first I wasn't sure if Earwig was a bossy brat who just manipulates those around her but later I find she has quite a bit of spirit and her strong personality is likable. When Earwig is left at the orphanage, it is implied that her mom is a witch but no powers are manifested in Earwig and we really don't know if Earwig is a witch because she doesn't do anything magical - she only follows a spell in a recipe-type book. The witch who has adopted Earwig, makes spells for clients but it isn't elaborated on who they are or what the spells do; we only know that the clients are called, Friends of the Earth and Mother's Union. This made me wonder exactly what type of the world the characters live in and I wanted more world-building. I'm not sure why Custard is introduced in Chapter 1 and then never makes another appearance in the novel. It seems like he should have reappeared and interacted with Earwig at another point in the plot.

Diana Wynne Jones died last March and this is the last book she wrote. It seems like an unfinished draft - particularly the puzzling epilogue that launches itself way forward in time. It felt as if the author was saying, "Okay, I don't have time to finish this so we will hash out in one paragraph everything that happened to Earwig." My guess is she wasn't able to properly edit it. Even with flaws, it is entertaining and is going to fill a need for emerging readers who like fantasy books.

Reading Level 5.4 (too high)(less)

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Oct 24, 2012 Katie Helwig rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Earwig has been at the orphanage for her entire life and she is perfectly content staying there forever. She is the boss there! Her best friend Custard does everything she tells him. When people come to pick a child, Earwig makes herself as unlovable as possible. Usually no one looks at her, but then one day a very peculiar couple comes in. They are actually quiet scary. Earwig swears the man has horns! When they pick Earwig, she begs Mrs. Brigg’s not to make her go because she will miss Custard...more Earwig has been at the orphanage for her entire life and she is perfectly content staying there forever. She is the boss there! Her best friend Custard does everything she tells him. When people come to pick a child, Earwig makes herself as unlovable as possible. Usually no one looks at her, but then one day a very peculiar couple comes in. They are actually quiet scary. Earwig swears the man has horns! When they pick Earwig, she begs Mrs. Brigg’s not to make her go because she will miss Custard. Mrs. Briggs assures her she will get to see Custard at school and her new home is right around the corner so she will get to visit. When Earwig gets to her new house, it looks normal enough on the outside, but once inside, she realizes her new mother is a witch! She is trapped in there. The witch wanted Earwig to be her extra set of hands, but Earwig says she isn’t going to do anything unless she gets to learn a little magic out of this deal! The witch agrees, but soon Earwig realizes her new mother has absolutely no intentions of teaching her cool magic witch tricks. With the help of the talking cat, Earwig puts a spell on herself so the witch can never do anything to her, including give her worms. To find out if Earwig ever learns magic, read Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones.

This book would be appealing to students in grades 4-6. It would be a good book for anyone who likes a little mystery or horror.

I thought this book was good, but a little scary for younger children. The witch is very mean to Earwig and I thought it might be a good book for children who might understand going through something like foster care, but after I read it, I realized it would actually be very scary for a child in that situation! This book is about a girl who gets adopted by a witch who is not very nice to her and I wouldn’t want children to think that is what it is like after getting adopted! It was a spooky (but not so spooky) story though that would just be a book kids could read for pleasure, especially the imaginative and descriptiveness of the story was appealing.

Jones, Diana Wynne, and Paul O. Zelinsky. Earwig and the witch. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2012. Print.
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May 03, 2012 LJ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile-books

This cheerful and clever little book is an enjoyable quick read at 117 pages, and Zelinsky's illustrations add a comic touch to keep the plot appropriately light for children. Earwig's story begins in St. Morwald's Home for Children which has been Earwig's home ever since the matron discovered her on their doorstep, complete with a mysterious note pinned to shawl, indicating that Earwig is a witch's child. The first scene of the story has a Mrs. Briggs and her man attending the adoption day at S...more This cheerful and clever little book is an enjoyable quick read at 117 pages, and Zelinsky's illustrations add a comic touch to keep the plot appropriately light for children. Earwig's story begins in St. Morwald's Home for Children which has been Earwig's home ever since the matron discovered her on their doorstep, complete with a mysterious note pinned to shawl, indicating that Earwig is a witch's child. The first scene of the story has a Mrs. Briggs and her man attending the adoption day at St. Morwalds. They make short work of adopting Earwig, knowing full well that she is a witch's child. Mrs. Briggs, who is also a witch, is looking for "an extra set of hands." As soon as Earwig enters the Brigg's home, she is put to work as that extra pair of hands, getting very little in exchange for it. Earwig is nothing if not plucky, and her goal of eventually getting the upper hand keeps her working for Mrs. Briggs, and studying magic in secret with the help of Thomas, the household cat familiar. This works to Earwig's benefit when she and Thomas concoct a protection spell, and later when they give Mrs. Briggs her own "extra set of hand," attached to her body. There's plenty of rich description that adds to the delight of the story and enjoyment of the characters. Mrs. Briggs is a classic witch, ugly and dirty with a house to match. The man that was with her is actually a matacor with a spirit helper that lives in a bedroom with a magical location. The abuse that Earwig suffers at the hands of Mrs. Briggs is light, consisting of not being allowed to supper (and then getting a delicious bread and cheese supper from the local pub which the spirit helper delivers to her.) There's a funny scene where Earwig, after her protection spell, gets a roomful of earthworms, due to Mrs. Brigg's making good on her threat of, "giving [Earwig] worms." The ending is swiftly accomplished with a two page, "one year later," summary, which though disappointing, isn't unexpected in this tidy little story.(less)

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Apr 22, 2012 Renee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-books

This review consists of 2 parts: 1. My daughter's review (she's 9) and 2. My review (I'm the Mom). These are excerpts - for the full review visit us at http://motherdaughterbookreviews.com

DAUGHTER SAYS:

What I liked and disliked about it: I really liked this book. Earwig is funny. At the beginning of the book she wants to stay in the orphanage, but by the end of the book, she wants to stay with the witch and the Mandrake. I really like the characters in the book because you wouldn’t have people l...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-lit, work-review-related-reading

This is a hilarious tale of Earwig, a little girl dropped off at a orphanage with a note pinned to her saying "Got the other twelve witches all chasing me. I'll be back for her when I've shook them off. It may take years. Her name is Earwig." Though the orphanage had regular tours of potential foster parents going through, Earwig, who has "a very strong personality", managed to never be picked, on purpose. She liked her ability to get whatever she wanted there. However, a very strange couple (th...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Linda Bernstein rated it 5 of 5 stars

My favorite parts of the newest (and perhaps last) book from the late Diana Wynne Jones are the illustrations by Caldecott Medal winner Paul O. Zelinsky, who also happens to be my husband’s first-cousin-once-removed as well as our good friend. (I do not mention this to be “transparent.” Rather, I brag.) I love the electricity of the lines, especially the ones that capture Earwig’s pigtails. I love the expressions of the face made so vivid but a small mark or shading. Yes, Paul really did it up a...more

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Feb 28, 2012 Jennifer Haight rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones (most known as the author of Howl's Moving Castle) and illustrated by Caldecott award winner Paul O. Zelinsky is a bouncy mystical read for middle grade children. Its timeless in that no pop culture or technologies are referenced yet it reads like an old story partially due to the British food references, (pie and chips) and language choices, (higgledy-piggledy).

Earwig is a confident and controlling orphan who attempts to avoid adoption because she has c...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: cats who talk, mandrakes, demons, children ages 8-12

Recommended to Emily by: Shelf Awareness

Shelves: middle-school-meddlings, childrens, i-wouldn-t-mind-that-life

Earwig rather enjoys St. Morwald's Home for Children. She can boss everyone around, including her best friend Custard, and she REALLY enjoys the food made by the chef. It doesn't bother her that potential adoptive parents never look her way--she gives them unlovable looks and can't imagine living in a home with only a few people to boss around in it, anyway.
So when a very strange looking couple come to St. Morwald's with the intention of taking Earwig home, she can't help but be mortified. And...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Marika rated it 4 of 5 stars

Earwig loves living at St. Morwald's Home for Children because everyone there does exactly what she wants, even her best friend Custard. So why would she ever want to be adopted and leave? Luckily, Earwig is able to deflect any attempts at adoption- that is until a strange couple comes one visiting day and adopts her. Something must be up. Sure enough, the woman is a witch and the man, well, he has horns and demons do his bidding. Most importantly, they don't do what Earwig wants them to. Well,...more

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Sep 17, 2012 bella rated it 5 of 5 stars

I put off reading Earwig and the Witch because it was the last novel published by Diana Wynne Jones, who died in 2011. Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favorite authors and I wasn't sure I was reading to have read all of her books, as silly as that sounds.

Recently I was in the mood for some Diana Wynne Jones so I picked up Earwig and the Witch on audio. It was my first time listening to a Diana Wynne Jones novel on audio and I loved it! The narrator was perfect in her voices of Earwig, Thomas the...more

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Jul 04, 2011 Nic rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 27, 2012 Caroline rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: found-in-the-library, ta-juvenile, ta-juvenile-recs, demons, female-centric, female-protagonist_strong_, humour, horror, magic, quick-reads, urban-fantasy

Earwig is good at making people do what she wants. When she's adopted by Bella Yaga, she's worried that she won't have as much fun bossing two people around. When Bella reveals that she is a witch and only adopted Earwig to use as an extra pair of hands, Earwig isn't surprised and asks to be trained as a witch.

Unfortunately, Bella Yaga has no intention of training Earwig. But that doesn't stop our young protagonist, as she befriends Yaga's cat, Thomas, and fashions some spells of her own to gain...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Melissa Mcavoy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-books, fiction

Earwig is an unusual child. She is never frightened and her forceful personality allows her to bend the staff and children of St. Morwald’s orphanage to her will. These intrepid attributes are just what Earwig needs to rise to the challenge of being adopted by a witch and a demon. With the help of a talking cat, Earwig accomplishes her goals: learning magic and ruling the roost. Paul Zelinsky’s ink drawings capture the quirky charm of this determined child. Jones deservedly won the lifetime achi...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Gwen the Librarian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kidlit, fantasy, early-readers

This easy-to-read chapter book is just perfect - a blend of humor, gore, and comeuppance. The orphaned Earwig is perfectly happy at her orphanage where everyone does exactly what she wants all of the time - possibly because she was left on the doorstep by witches, but she doesn't know that she has powers and her true powers aren't really ever explored, only hinted at. When a nasty couple come and adopt her, Earwig is infuriated that both her powers of persuasion did not work and that she has to...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Hilary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, grades-3-4, humor, orphans

Earwig is perfectly happy living at St. Morwald's Home for Children, thank you very much. Everyone there is already under her control and she can get them to do whatever she likes, so being adopted by foster parents is not in her game plan. Then an odd couple visits and does the unthinkable - they adopt Earwig! She soon realizes that her new foster mother is no ordinary woman, but is a witch, and a witch that is not interested in doing Earwig's bidding. Earwig quickly gets to work to make her si...more

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May 22, 2012 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: juv, fantasy, cybils-nominees-2012-2013

This is an ideal length for young readers just discovering the world of fantasy - plenty of white space and illustrations, with a brisk, uncomplicated story about a young girl adopted by a witch. Zelinky's illustrations have a bit of the feel of his Swamp Angel books - just look at that face on the cover! The story has shades of Eva Ibbotson and Roald Dahl, with a seemingly dismal situation being turned around by a bit of initiative on the part of Earwig. I wonder if Jones intended to write a se...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Dolly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: children starting to read chapter books

Shelves: 2012, childrens, monsters, pets, scifi-fantasy

This is a strange, but entertaining story about a young girl who is whisked away from the orphanage where she is happy and put to work for a mean witch and a grumpy Mandrake. The form of the Mandrake confused me somewhat, since I was much more familiar with the shrieking plants from the Harry Potter series. Still, the collaboration between Earwig and Thomas the cat is very humorous.

Overall, the story is fairly short and not too scary. The black and white illustrations by Paul O. Zelinsky are whi...more

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May 10, 2012 Joanne Zienty rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-fiction

This early chapter book had a lot of potential in the character of Earwig, a foundling child left on the doorstep of an orphanage with a mysterious note hinting at witch ancestry. She's a feisty thing who gets adopted, to her displeasure (she likes life at the orphanage), by a strange couple who take her home and put her to work in their even stranger house. Turns out they are witch and warlock. But Earwig is used to people doing what she wants them to do. Maybe all three have met their match! B...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Harold Ogle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children, magic, orphan

Diana Wynne Jones' last work of fiction is written for a somewhat younger target audience than the last several books of hers that I've read. Like so much children's fiction, it is written about an orphan. Earwig was found on the doorstep of the orphanage as an infant, with a cryptic note imploring the orphanage to take good care of Earwig until the note-writer could escape a dozen pursuing witches, which might take years.

Earwig is very much a Pippi Longstocking character (up to the unruly hair)...more Diana Wynne Jones' last work of fiction is written for a somewhat younger target audience than the last several books of hers that I've read. Like so much children's fiction, it is written about an orphan. Earwig was found on the doorstep of the orphanage as an infant, with a cryptic note imploring the orphanage to take good care of Earwig until the note-writer could escape a dozen pursuing witches, which might take years.

Earwig is very much a Pippi Longstocking character (up to the unruly hair), in that she is carefree, opinionated, and always gets her way...that is to say that her force of will is such that she compels others to do her bidding. So the orphanage has become her demesne and she loves it. So it is with some dismay that she is adopted by a woman who seems immune to her will. Bella Yaga is accompanied by a tall, forbidding gentleman named Mandrake, who at times seems to have horns sprouting out of his forehead. Since this is a Jones book - not to mention that her name is Bella Yaga - the woman is a witch. Earwig is thrilled at this, until she discovers that Bella Yaga has no intention of including Earwig in her magic. Earwig is just there to do menial work so that Bella will have more time for the interesting stuff.

Well, Earwig doesn't settle for that! No, she befriends Bella's familiar, Thomas the cat. Thomas appreciates Earwig's kindness, and helps Earwig sneak a spell out of one of Bella's books. Then they slowly work to cast the spell over the course of weeks, all the while doing Bella's drudge-work and avoiding Mandrake as best they can. He's got a furious temper on him, and when he's mad, he grows and grows larger and larger, and into a more demonic aspect. The house has an interestingly interdimensional quality to it, in that the rooms connect to one another in non-linear ways, and Earwig attempts to use this to spy on the other two. She is thwarted in this by Mandrake, whose magic seems powerful enough to adapt to whatever tricks of eavesdropping Earwig can devise.

In the end, Earwig finishes her spell, which creates extra appendages on random parts of Bella's body. It's a great prank, but Bella is not amused. She easily removes the extra hands and then sends a plague of worms burrowing after Earwig. Earwig tricks the worms into burrowing through a wall that she knows leads to Mandrake's study, and his fury is terrible to behold. He chastises both Bella and Earwig, and admonishes Bella to teach Earwig magic properly. The book thus ends with Earwig on top again, having reattained her sense of being in control once more. She's doing what she wants in learning magic and has a great deal of freedom besides.

The book is a great length for my nine-year-old son for something that can be easily read in one sitting. It's fun, with Jones' typically whimsical approach to yet another new magic system. Being aimed at a younger audience, Earwig and the Witch lacks some of the character depth of many of Jones' other books, and the illustrations lend a particularly childlike aspect to the narrative. Unlike many other reviewers, I don't feel that this was the start of a series. The conflict of the book was resolved fairly quickly at the end, but for all that the story feels complete to me.(less)

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Apr 25, 2012 Robyn added it · review of another edition

Shelves: kids-or-ya, library

Cute, definitely for the younger kids. Left a thread hanging, which is unusual for DWJ. I don't see any purpose to including the bit about the note pinned to Earwig when she was left at the orphanage, since it was never explained, followed up, or made relevant. The best I can give to that is that maybe it was to indicate that Earwig, as the daughter of a witch, was a witch herself, but it didn't feel necessary, as the work she did to create spells didn't feel like anything that needed inherent m...more

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Jun 25, 2011 Andrea added it

Shelves: fantasy, childrens

A strange feeling to be reading the last book Diana Wynne Jones completed. Earwig and the Witch, aimed for younger readers, touches on the same territory as The Ogre Downstairs where it can be read as being about the relationship between children and those who are meant to be looking after them, and how completely alien they can be to each other. Except this time the guardians are literally a witch and a demon, who have met their match in a girl called Earwig.

Frankly, I suspect the other childre...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Seawood rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-200-books-challenge, children, fiction

A great little story! My daughter bought this for herself a few months ago and you couldn't prise her out of it for love nor money. She's taking it into school for World Book Day tomorrow so I thought I'd better have a quick read ;-) It's great. Beautifully illustrated, creepy, funny, and unpatronising; a good one to read with 6-8yos just getting into chapter books or as a relaxed read for your advanced free reader.

My only complaint is that it ends a little abruptly, as though there was a lot mo...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Phoebe rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, humor, british, juv, juv-fantasy

Earwig is determined NEVER to be adopted because she has everyone at the orphanage under her bossy thumb. Then the unthinkable happens and she is adopted--by a witch and a peculiar man with horns. Earwig hopes that she'll be the witch's assistant but instead she's a drudge--until once again she figures out how to manipulate the situation, with the help of black cat (and familiar) Thomas. A dropped plot thread (the mysterious note left with baby Earwig years ago) seems promising for another episo...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Miss rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's a sad feeling to be reading the last Diana Wynne Jones novel. Especially when I reached the end: it felt so abruptly cut off and unfinished that I can't help but wonder if she would've chosen to continue this if she'd had the opportunity.

Aside from those extratextual feelings though I had a really good time reading this book. It's aimed a bit younger than DWJ's usual audience -- I could see myself giving this to a 6-8 year old instead of the preteens her other children's work generally seem...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Tracie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, elem

Earwig is an orphan and she's perfectly happy at the orphanage where she's managed to make everyone do her bidding. One dark day though, despite her best efforts, Earwig is adopted - by a witch and a demon. She is taken to their home and made to do the witch's dirty work. Somehow she must find a way to either escape or influence the witch and the demon to her way of thinking.
Earwig is a spunky character and I liked the fact that she doesn't just accept her situation but tries to modify it. Th...more

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Mar 26, 2012 babyhippoface rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kids-fiction, fantasy, humor

Earwig is perfectly happy in the orphange. Everyone there does whatever she tells them to do, and Earwig has no desire to leave. When the strangest couple she has ever seen shows up at the orphanage and wants to adopt her, Earwig has no choice but to go with them. As it turn out, Bella Yaga is a witch, and "the Mandrake" is...well, Earwig isn't quite sure what the Mandrake is. But Earwig is something Bella Yaga and the Mandrake aren't: clever. In Earwig, Jones has created a character elementary...more

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About Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones was the author of more than thirty critically acclaimed fantasy stories, including the Chrestomanci series and the novels Howl's Moving Castle and Dark Lord of Derkholm.

For Diana Wynne Jones's official autobiography, please see http://www.leemac.freeserve.co.uk/aut...

More about Diana Wynne Jones...

Books by Diana Wynne Jones

Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1)

The Lives of Christopher Chant (Chrestomanci, #4)

Castle in the Air (Howl's Moving Castle, #2)

House of Many Ways (Howl's Moving Castle, #3)

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9951114-earwig-and-the-witch?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356449509l/9951114.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9951114-earwig-and-the-witch?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones[/url]

Earwig and the Witch

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