Reviews of Witchlet

A very charming story for children with a relevent theme. I like the vegetarian dragon, but I should point out that it is "animals" that vegetarians don't eat, not "meat". Calling them "meat" buys into the carnist world view.

The style could be improved with a bit more proofreading; a few repeated words and phrases here or there, but overall a very readable fantasy.

This is the charming story of Paige, a nine year old girl who is struggling to fit in because she happens to be a witch. While I do think the story could be longer, in particular an encounter that Paige has with a vegetarian dragon, I have to take into account that it is written for children, and is a perfect length and depth of prose for an introduction to fantasy for a young reader.

Well worth a read for those with young children, or for adults that still have that child within.

Have you ever noticed that when you hear the term 'Witch', you automatically think of a grey haired, gaunt-faced, warty, scary old woman who wears a black, long sleeved dress with an equally black, tall pointed hat, gets about by riding on a willow garden-brush type broom and is usually accompanied by a black cat?

Paige is none of these things, she is 9 years old, has long blonde hair, dresses in normal clothes, travels by foot, or, if in a hurry, gets the wind to fly her and has a vegetarian Dragon called Daisy as a friend!

This is a pleasant little introduction to the Magical Chapters Trilogy, well thought out and written in a descriptive, Hans Christian Anderson like, language children will understand and can use to allow their imaginations to take hold.

Even though I am well past my sell-by date, the child in me is looking forward to reading Victoria's next book in the series, The Pineapple Loving Dragon.

Paige is only nine years old but she is a powerful witch, able to control the elements and heal people. That should be any young girls dream but either people can't believe she is capable of such magic because she is so young or they expect her to be evil. This children's book deals with Paige's frustration and how she learns to handle other peoples prejudices.

Using very concise and clear prose, Witchlet tells a well developed story and provides a good character arc for Paige. She is very believable as both a frustrated little girl and powerful witch. I liked the idea of a child witch not only learning to cope with her powers but how the adults around her behave and I think this would appeal to kids whilst also being thought-provoking. The book leads to a satisfactory conclusion whilst also introducing characters of interest for the rest of the series.

The only reason I could not give a full five stars is because I am not the target audience, being an adult and therefore it is difficult for me to judge how much a child would enjoy the book. I think it would have been lovely if there were some pictures to illustrate the story as it would be great to see Paige calling up and riding the wind but at the same time there is plenty of description to create the image in your own mind.