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!
Tag Archives: witch
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.
329U: First Day of Witch School
Looking for a picture book about a girl going to witch school. Maybe her first day? Something about riding a broom? Cover was dark purple or blue with stars and girl doing lots of different things. Read to me no later than 1994. Would have been a book nook title for K-3 age kids.
325I: A witch, a crow, crochet, and the Pennsylvania Dutch
Looking for a children’s book that I think involved a witch. Somebody does a lot of crocheting, the Pennsylvania Dutch are mentioned several times (I presume the story takes place in Pennsylvania), there’s a mystery, and I remember an illustration of a large crow flying. That’s it, I’m afraid.
319J: Brother And Sister Confront Scary Beings
I am looking for a book with two main characters, a brother and sister, and the sister is named Lorna. I forget the brother’s name. I’m pretty sure it was a scary or mystery book about a witch or ghosts. Would have read it in the early 80s which means it could have been published in the 70s. Not much to go on but hoping you can help!
319E: Getting Swallowed By A Whale
288D: Woman in black kidnaps kids
It is a “scary” children’s picture book about a woman dressed in all black and she kidnaps children. She has a black hat with a black veil, yet has yellow eyes that can still be seen. She carries an umbrella and a bag of bricks. She has pilgrim buckle type shoes. She can run really fast and creates a black streak as she passes. As she kidnaps more kids, the parents of the remaining children send them to school with protection. The zookeeper’s son arrives with a boa constrictor around his neck, the beekeeper’s son wears a beehive, the military kid rides up in a tank, etc. The lady in black even takes a teacher. They eventually catch her and she leads the police to a cave where the children and teacher are kept, unharmed. The lady then slips out of the handcuffs and escapes. The book was written in English and had colored illustrations. I read it in Minnesota, USA in the mid-to-late 90s. I remember a specific illustration in which the lady is hiding behind a pole at a bus stop, just before she takes a kid.