The Witches
By Roald Dahl
Illustrations by Quentin Blake
"I am not, of course, telling you for one second that your teacher is actually a witch. All I am saying is that she might be one. It is most unlikely. But - and here comes the big 'but' - it is not impossible.' (The Witches, page 5).
The Witches is an adolescent novel about a young boy who encounters a group of witches. They look just like everyone else (hence the quote above) and the book then details his journey to destroy them before they can do to others what they do to him.
Roald Dahl's interesting writing style intrigues both children and adults alike. His playful rhymes, ways of twisting words and sentences, narrative structure and use of adjectives make his books unique.
Quentin Blake's illustrations show us the main plot points in an interesting style, that compliments the writing perefectly.
The story is a quest (Booker's basic plots) as we see the narrator - our nameless seven year old main character - take on the witches with the help of his grandmamma in order to save the children of England.
There is a prologue which warns us about witches and the things that they can do, setting the scene for witches and how awful and evil they are - this is built upon further in the story using such adjectives as horrid, disgusting and demonic.
The resolution sees our narrator and his trusty sidekick grandmamma preparing for a new quest. It is this that I believe could make an interesting learning experience, as you could get the learners to continue the story (e.g. a poster, a creative writing piece or a drama experience).
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