Arriman the Awful, feared Wizard of the North, has decided to marry. But his wife must be a witch of the darkest powers...A sorcery competition is held to discover which witch is the most potent and fiendish, and glamorous Madame Olympia conjures up a thousand plague-bearing rats! Belladonna, the white witch, desperately wants to be a wicked enchantress, but her magic produces flowers instead of snakes. How can she become more devilish than all the other witches? 'Eva Ibbotson weaves a magic like no other. Once enchanted, always enchanted' - Michael Morpurgo.
Amazon.com Review
Arriman the Awful, Loather of Light and Wizard of the North, needs a wife. How else can he have a wizard baby to carry on the family tradition of blighting and smiting, blasting and wuthering? The problem is, wizards can only marry one kind of person--a witch. Arriman dreads the thought. "A great black crone with warts and blisters in unmentionable places from crashing about on her broom! You want me to sit opposite one of
those every morning eating my cornflakes?" But a witch it must be, so Arriman holds a contest to decide which witch. The local witches are all atwitter over what spell they'll perform for the contest--all except Belladonna, who is, to her great shame, a white witch. She looks rather like the girl on the Clairol Herbal Essence bottle, with a sweet face and flowing blonde hair. "There was usually
something in Belladonna's hair: A fledgling blackbird parked there by its mother while she went to hunt for worms, a baby squirrel wanting somewhere safe to eat its hazel nuts, or a butterfly who thought she was a lily or a rose."
Black spells are cast, enchantments are woven, and even Belladonna manages to do a little damage in this wonderfully clever 1979 book by Eva Ibbotson (of The Secret of Platform 13). Young readers will delight in the way Ibbotson glories in the ghoulish and the gory--and in her engaging characters who are kindly and fiendish all at once. Which Witch (finally reissued in the United States) begs to be read aloud, with before-bed-length chapters and lots of opportunities for funny voices. (Ages 9 and older) --Claire Dederer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9-Arriman the Awful is weary of championing blackness and trying to raise the wife-murdering ghost of Darkington Hall, Sir Simon. When the predicted new wizard does not arrive, Arriman, who is tall, dark, and handsome, with just a bit of a foolish streak, reluctantly agrees to marry to insure an heir to the throne of darkness. The witches from the coven of Todcaster are invited to a contest to win his hand by performing the blackest trick possible. These witches are a sorry lot, especially beautiful Belladonna, who is good in spite of herself. Just when the dark horse, Madame Olympia, appears to have no equal, Belladonna's black magic is improved by an orphan, Terence Mugg. The contest is a splendor of blackness and evil and is not for the fainthearted, with everything from bottomless pits and krakens to cannibalistic mice. Ibbotson describes perfectly the hierarchy of this fantasy world; every spirit, witch, and ogre is true to form. The threads of the story are woven tightly and tied up neatly at the end. Terence, of course, is the new wizard. Belladonna and Arriman can retire to a cottage where he will write a book, and Madame Olympia and Sir Simon are joined in unholy matrimony. A zestful adventure, perfect for fans of "Harry Potter" (Scholastic) and Ibbotson's The Secret of Platform 13 (Dutton, 1998).
Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
On the heels of J. K. Rowling's successful Harry Potter books comes this story, originally published in Great Britain in 1979, of a wizard having a midlife crisis, a sweet witch with an identity crisis, and a lonely orphan who discovers his destiny for magical greatness. The novel intertwines the stories of Wizard Arriman the Awful, who needs a wife and holds a competition for local witches, with himself as prize; kind-hearted, beautiful Belladonna, a white witch who wants to win his heart and admiration but is more likely to conjure up flowers than snakes; and orphan Terence, who helps Belladonna discover the powerful magic of true love and determination, and finds a home in the process. The story's strength lies in its witty, satirical twists on beauty pageants and the Cinderella story, and its dimensional, generally comedic characters: a murderous ghost with a conscience, whiny and flawed witches, and Arriman, a gifted wizard and altar-phobic worrywart. However, the Roald Dahl-esque humor is overshadowed by a particularly macabre scenario involving rats, and though witch stories always have an audience, this one is not for the faint of heart or stomach. Shelle Rosenfeld --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
Imagination and humor run rampant as Arriman the Awful, the Wizard of the North, tries to find a bride in this hilarious romp from Ibbotson (The Secret of Platform 13, 1998). Arriman is tired of wizardry and yearns for retirement. He's dismayed when a prophesied new wizard doesn't arrive, and decides he'll have to marry a witch and have an heir to continue the line. Enter the eccentric local witches who will compete to produce the most terrifying black magic they can muster. One is a beautiful young witch with a problem: Belladonna simply cannot do black magic. Although she knows that handicap will disqualify her, she enters the competition anyway when she meets Terence, a neglected orphan boy with a pet worm named Rover who seems to be a witch's familiar. Belladonna finally succeeds in conjuring up vipers instead of flowers and bunnies, and eventually learns that Terence has more power than anyone suspected. Ibbotson includes monsters, ghouls, and murderous ghosts; through tongue-in-cheek humor she provides an endlessly amusing book to delight readers. (b&w illustrations) (Fiction. 9-12) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"When most people hear 'large-print book,' they immediately think senior citizen. But large-print editions of popular children's books -- from the powerhouse Harry Potter series to timeless classics like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- are now making their way onto the shelves of the Children's Department at the Canton Library. . . . Although large-print editions are targeted to the visually-impaired or dyslexic child, they can also be used by standard-vision readers. So Kershner [Children's librarian at the Canton Public Library] has decided against creating a special section in the Children's Department (as exists in the Adult Department) opting instead to intersperse large-print books on the shelves with the regular print versions of the same titles."
-- The Observer and Eccentric (October 2000) (The Observer and Eccentric 20001001)
"Thorndike Press has helped me not only find books I want to read, but they also look like regular books. That's important when you're a kid and you can only read Large Print, you want your book to look like all the other books. I'm reading a lot more now that we have found Thorndike Press."
-- Jim Bernardin, Islamorada, FL
"Everyone loves to read, there's nothing like curling up with a good book. We're a reading family, so when our son was diagnosed with Stargardt's Disease and only able to read Large Print, it was particularly difficult. Books on tape are wonderful but they don't fill the void of actually reading a good story. Large Print books have been around a long time for older people, but to find a good novel for a young person in Large Print began to feel nearly impossible. The books that Thorndike Press publishes have truly made a difference in my son's reading life. He can enjoy current novels as well as some of the classics that he missed reading when it became too difficult with regular print."
-- Sara Bernardin, Islamorada, FL
"A zestful adventure, perfect for fans of HARRY POTTER."
-- School Library Journal (School Library Journal ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Eva Ibbotson was born in Vienna, but when the Nazis came to power her family fled to England and she was sent to boarding school. She became a writer while bringing up her four children, and her bestselling novels have been published around the world. Her books have also won and been shortlisted for many prizes. Eva died peacefully in October 2010 at the age of eighty-five.