You Wouldn't Want to Be a Salem Witch!: Bizarre Accusations You'd Rather Not Face

You Wouldn't Want to Be ...

by Jim Pipe, David Antram (Illustrator), David Salariya

Uses humor in both text and illustrations to describe life for women and girls in 17th-century Salem, Massachusetts.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, American History, Picture Books, Juvenile, Witches

32 pages, Library Binding

Published January 1, 2009

About the author

Jim Pipe studied Ancient & Modern History at Oxford University, then spent ten years in publishing before becoming a full-time writer. He has written numerous non-fiction books for children, many on historical subjects. He lives in Dublin, Ireland, with his lovely wife Melissa and his twin sons.

Reviews

[Jessica Emly · Rating 4 out of 5]

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Salem Witch! by Jim Pipe, plunges young readers into the 16th century in the Massachusetss Bay Colony, home of the Salem Witch Trials. Readers follow one specific story that took place during this period, in which they are actually positioned as the main character. However, along the way, readers also learn many interesting historical facts that are presented somewhat seperately from the story itself. While at first glance, the book seems crazy busy, it is easy for readers to quickly learn to navigate the pages. The main bulk of the story is presented in larger text, while the facts that are presented along the way are presented in smaller text with "titles" that precede them. Both the story and the facts are depicted with humorously exaggerated, comic-style illustrations, complete with thought and speech bubbles from the characters. This book is ideal for students in 3rd through 5th grade, and the series offers a great opportunity for students to expand their knowledge about different historical events, people, and places in a light-hearted and approachable way. The book is also excellent for students because it includes all the standard text features of a non-fiction book, including a table of contents, captions, a glossary, and an index. Overall, I think that this book and others in the series are extremely educational and will be deeply enjoyed by students who wish to learn more about the wide history of this world without turning to a boring textbook.

[Lindsay Baloga · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, they set the story by first saying you are a character and you follow their life through the events of the book. In this, you are priscilla Bishop and you have to avoid being accused of being a witch. The book tells you how the Salem Witch Trials started and what it would be like avoiding being accused of being a witch. The book includes facts about witches and how societies dealt with witches along the same page as general story. The pages are very dense with texts which could seem intimidating to younger readers. The illustrations weren't very graphic, but could scare some readers. The book is also set in a way to teach readers how chapter books are. It's starts with a table contents which has the section name and page. There is a glossary at the back to help with words they aren't aware of and an index to find names and concepts within the book. I read these book when I was in 3rd grade and I think 3rd-6th graders would enjoy these books. They give an easy to understand idea of each historical event and gives details and facts along with making it an easy story to follow.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teaches kids that not only can lies, power, money be corrupt and have severe consequences, but it also shares the scary and often unreal suspicions, fears, tortures for confessions, and hints to survive the trials; It talks about all major contendors, not only in Salem, Massachusetts, but also all over Europe, describing in detail, some of the horrors of what some women and men went through to either prove their innocence or how it best be thought to deal with it, and even the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 was not the only time in American History that there had been historical 'witch-hunts'.
This book would even be helpful for the Highschool kids who have to read, act out, or watch Arthur Miller's The Crucible. This book gives some more background information that is also not even present in the play and I personally think would provide more information on the actual people featured in it too.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written as a kids book, it is a actually a terrifying journey to the heart of the human soul. Every page is filled with proof the human mind if not rigorously civilized is full of nonsense, jealously, cruelty and murder. I also couldn't help feeling while reading that given the right circumstances there is no doubt our civilization would slide right back into this dark age. The monster at the heart of each human is ready and waiting once the lights go out. That the book tries to be light-hearted for tweens and fails miserably is even more jarring as you flip the pages.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An apparently scary time to live no matter where you were, especially if you were a girl or a woman. Between illustrations and snippets of facts, this book walks you through a dark period in history.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book in this series. This one is more gruesome than a lot of the others, but covers the anti-witch fever of the period very well.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative read, done creatively.

[Laura The Book Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love all the "You Wouldn't Want to Be..." books

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my informational picture book review:

This book is a little long so I would let the students use it as part of independent reading, but the information provided is kid friendly and has little side facts that I even found to be interesting. The pictures are colorful, funny, and provide accurate descriptions of the time period, and are very cartoonish. Some of layout of the book reminded me of a comic book with thought bubbles and word bubbles.

This book talks about the Salem trials from the beginning to the end, as well as where certain individuals ended up after the whole ordeal. There is a table of contents, glossary, index, and captions. There are other titles in this series that could be used with students: Cleopatra, Boston Tea Party, Statue of Liberty, etc. I think this would be a great way for the teacher to incorporate informational text into the classroom without having to use the traditional textbook. The only downside is that amount of text found on each page. The text spans from the larger story (larger text) to more minor details (smaller text). It can be a little overwhelming where to start reading and the direction the story is supposed to follow.

I would suggest third and fourth grade students to use the book, but due to the information found in the text, it can be used with older students. I think they would enjoy the illustrations and learn a few things not traditionally learned in class.

[Chelsea Hoschar · Rating 5 out of 5]

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Salem Witch! puts readers in the middle of the Salem Witchh trials in the 1600s. As in other "You Wouldn't Want to.." books handy hints give readers tips about things they wouldn't want to do and things they should try if they happen to be accused of being a witch. Small "side-stories" give more information about certain important people who have been accused of being witches as well as information on the Puritans, who started the trouble of accusing people of being witches.
Students in fifth or sixth grade will enjoy this book as they learn about a historical topic that they may not understand or know much about. The comical drawings help tell the story and the simple to moderate language keeps this story easy to read but also goes toward the challenging side with a few words and names. This book is another that is good for reading practice and education at the same time.
Pipe, J. (2009). You Wouldn't Want to Be a Salem Witch! Franklin Watts, Scholastic Inc.

[Leslie Sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was very interesting, I haven't read a book where I am told what my role is. In the introduction I was told that my name was Priscilla Bishop, and I live in Salem village Massachusetts. It’s a very creative book, but half way through I had forgotten my role. Nevertheless I really liked it, it was interesting, funny, informational, and it had engaging illustrations. I don't know if I would read this to young readers though, in my opinion the torture techniques were a bit too detailed.

The subgenre of this informational text is literary non-fiction; it included a glossary and index on the back. The facts in this book are told in a "story-like" kind of way, which might be interesting for a young reader trying to finish a research paper. The illustrations interplayed well with the text; most illustrations have captions that answer those chapters’ questions. The reason I believe I was a bit lost with my role in the book was because the text is in unusual places.

[Stacey Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 'You wouldn't want to be a' is an excellent set of informational books written in second person that asks the reader random questions about a particular time period in history. Each page of the book contains a descriptive statement about an event that occurred during this particular time period and then the rest of the page is full of interesting facts and vibrant graphics that provide additional information about the topic being discussed. This particular series is a great resource to use as a supplement to a history or social studies text. It would also be a great addition to a set of resources a student was using when doing a research project or paper. Each book is an easy read(5th grade)for middle school students and there is just enough picture support to guide anyone still having difficulty with the text.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

We've read a few books in the You Wouldn't Want To... series and they are informative, creative, humorous at times, and often very stark and uncomfortably realistic about life during the historical period being described.

I was a bit nervous reading this book aloud with our girls, considering the number of times that torture, hanging, and being burned alive are mentioned. I didn't sugar-coat or censor the book, but we read it in small doses and talked about the awful things that had occurred in the past and how people were persecuted for believing in different things. I highly recommend this series, although I think this book is more suited for older children.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot of historical information about the Salem Witch Trials. The main text is directed to the reader, and asks the reader to put themselves into the position of one of the children in the town of Salem. The supporting text and little fact boxes provide much additional commentary on the trials and general life in Salem. The cartoonish characters are almost a bit frightening and some of the illustrations and facts are quite graphic, therefore teachers and librarians should be careful about using the book as a resource for children who are too young to grasp all of the concepts.

[Barb Middleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to grade 4 students and they were creeped out by the gory details and outraged at the shenanigans of the Salem witch trials. Also, I teach in Taiwan and the whole Puritan, Quaker history went whoosh... over their heads. I did use the opportunity to book talk about The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare. The pirate read aloud was better for grade 4. I would recommend reading this to grade 5 when colonial history is introduced. Extremely popular series.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

We picked this one up to supplement the brief description of the Salem witch trials in our history spine. These books are always a little gory but this particular book was really disturbing. As any book about the witch trials should be. I loved that it gave us several different points of view as well as historical references and other times in history witch trials took place. I think this is one of the the best you wouldn't want to be books we have read.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't imagine how people could believe that others were witches. We know a lot of this information from movies and other books but this book has so much more. Many places had these witch hunts, not just Salem Ma. And even animals were condemned for being witches familiars. You can find out what happened to some of the people afterwards.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic overview for kids of the Salem Witch hunts of 1692! Useful information about the specifics of the story as well as witchcraft in Europe in the years leading up to the hysteria in Salem. Upper elementary, lower middle school level.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grim descriptions of a terrifying time told in such a fun, whimsical way! Accusing someone of witchcraft turns out to be a super easy way to get their farm and other stuff. How to get out of being killed - cop to it and they let you go! What a weird time.

Illustrations are very cool.

[Susan Coley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids love these books but not me so much. The books are typically too busy and complicated to read.

[Cairn · Rating 2 out of 5]

creepy

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book in the You Wouldn't Want to Be a... series.

[Sharyn Craft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice information in there for children to learn about the witch trials without being scary or violent.

[Kelly Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moral of the book: Confess to being a witch and you are safe.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This nonfiction book (part of a popular series) contains great historical information presented in an appealing format for elementary aged children.

[Eden Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and three quarters stars!

Pretty gory, but the it was lessened by the funny cartoony illustrations. Overall a fun, short read!