DICTIONARY OF WITCHES

This colourful guide to the witch-world takes the form of an A-Z of witchy characteristics, and although at first sight it looks like a children's book, in fact adults will get plenty of enjoyment from sharing it with their little people. Witches are very secretive, so we need to do some reading between the lines, and in this book a witch's life is not all it is often cracked up to be. Wild, untamed but also kind, our witch-guide will take us through the alphabet, with some letters having more entries than others. The letter S is the most popular with 10 entries, and starting there we find ... yes! A Spell! Anyone can cast a spell and all you need to do is eat a live toad beforehand. No problem, then. About shoes: "dirty, pointy and often worn out, a witch's evening shoes are made in hell". Under "Scowl", there is no witch in sight, just an elephant, and we learn that elephants never scowl except when they see witches flying a bit too low. When a rabbit looks at you in a slightly weird way it may be a witch in disguise, so take note of small details and beware. We use the word "magical" to describe landscapes with fog, snow or sunsets, because "it is witches who are responsible for them, and if witches didn't exist, these landscapes would be of no interest". When you see witches, how can you be sure they are not wizards? The answer is you can't, but it's not very important. When a witch cackles, big is her mouth and dark are her thoughts. 188pp, softback, colour illus.