I’m looking for a picture book that I cannot remember the name or author of. The story depicts a group of forest animals that spend time around a fairy (or heart of the forest). A depressed, skinny witch lives in the belly of a giant sharp tooth beast and has a black bird for a companion. For whatever reason she wants to have this fairy and keep her in a cage close to her heart, so she has the bird go fetch the fairy. The forest becomes dark and the animals of the forest seek out the help of another large animal to help them. This other large animal (an owl or wolf I think?) blows winter over the dark forest freezing the beast, the witch, and the fairy. Because the beast is unable to eat and the witch is unable to move the animals wander in to find them covered in frost and free the fairy to be with the forest again. I also think the beast was so big she had a house inside of it. Beyond that I forget what follows. Thank you for listening!
Tag Archives: witch
364U: Children’s chapter book about a witch
Details I remember – story is about a boy who goes into the woods and notices an abandoned cottage is now occupied. He meets a mischievous girl and they form a friendship, then finds out she’s a witch. At some point I believe she makes the mayor of his town dance around, and they go to a fair where she changes into a cat to accompany him undetected. At the ends she starts to lose her powers because she starts to care for him (so her nose grows warm, it had always been icy cold), so she leaves. The very end is the boy all grown up, now the mayor of his town, and he often looks to the forest hoping to see puffs of smoke from the little cottage.
The book had a lots of line drawings similar to Roald Dahl’s but smaller.
363N: Girl Witch and the Ferris Wheel (Solved!)
The book I am looking for must have been published before 1994 at the very latest, and I would think after 1975 although it could be earlier. It’s a children’s chapter book. The main character is a girl child with magic who is learning to be a witch: she lives in a cave with I think her grandmother/s and/or aunts who are old witches, and who are pretty grumpy and uncomfortable. She sneaks out one night and discovers a fairground nearby, and rides on the ferris wheel. (She might make a human friend, which isn’t allowed, and there might be a cat, but I’m not sure about those.) She decides to show her older female relatives that humans can have nice things, and I think she steals some of the ferris wheel cars and puts cushions and warming spells in them so her older female relatives will have nice warm places to sit? I think the cover was illustrated, but not super cartoon-y. I have googled and googled and found nothing.
361A: Amazing Looking Witch
I am looking for what I think was a weekly reader or Scholastic book from late 70s or 80s. It was a Halloween book with a witch. I actually can’t remember a ton about the story but the graphics were amazing. The witch would fly on her broom and there is a distinct image of her in front of the full moon about halfway through the book. I would love to share with my kids!
360J: Children’s book about animal characters, including a fox who gets his tail wet in a stream and meets a mermaid (Solved!)
353M: Circus Boy Rescues Chinese Girl, Witch Heals Her Bound Feet
Looking for a children's fantasy novel about a poor boy working at a circus who rescues a Chinese girl with bound feet who's a prisoner in one of the attractions. Takes place in medieval Europe, I think. They're on the run and get rescued by a witch or an old woman who heals the girl's feet by breaking the bones and then teaches her how to walk again. The boy and the girl go on a quest together. There may be a dragon involved. Wasn't a picture book and it had chapters. Read it between 2002 and 2008, but was probably published way earlier. Wish I had more info, thanks!
350J: Witch keeps girl’s lover in birdcage
There was very little text and mostly illustrations. The story involved a girl whose lover(?) is taken away by a witch. She goes to the witch’s lair and there are many birdcages with owls in them. Her lover(?) is also being kept in a birdcage when she saves him.
The pictures had a very dark colour scheme with a gothic/art nouveau art style, similar to Kay Nielsen but darker. I remember being fascinated with this book as a child as the content was so dark compared to my other books. I’ve been trying to locate it for years but cannot remember even slightly what the title was.
If it helps, I suspect the author was European given the content, so the original book was probably published in Finnish, Danish or German.
341U: Similar to the princess and the frog
When I was quite small, I remember having a favorite fantasy book along the lines of the princess and the frog, but I can never seem to remember more than a few details. I’ve tried really hard to find it, but no one in my family even remembers the book aside from me...
What I can remember is this:
- Two people are turned into frogs
- There’s a witch that captures them
- When they escape, they steal a vial of dragon's breath that is used later for a spell I mostly forget... I think it’s used to turn either them or the otter human again? Or to trade for something?
- There’s a magical bracelet which they both must put an arm in to be returned to being human
- There’s an otter, who once was human, who gets them the bracelet because the woman (possibly fairy?) that was keeping it was once his lover before he was turned by the same witch from before
- I believe at one point someone pretends to be a fairy, and that fairy finds out and gets offended?
And that’s mostly all I can remember, aside from the scenery I imagined along with the story as a kid. I’ve been searching for around 5 years now and would LOVE to get to read it again!!
333D: Redheaded Girl’s Scary Witch Encounter Just a Dream
I am desperately trying to find out the title of a book I used to read to my daughter when she was little. It had to have been published before 1994. What we remember is that the main character is a little girl, maybe a redhead and/or curly haired. She may be walking through a forest and encounters a scary witch. At the end we discover that the whole thing was a dream.
The book, which we used to take out from the library, was a hard back.
332D: Dark Fairy Tale
- Young adult fiction
- Part of a series
- Dark retelling of classic fairy tales
- Checked out from my local library between 1999-2008
- Around the same time I read “Just Ella” by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and this would have been around the same time period and genre. This could even be written by her as well.