Read the book that inspired the full-length animated feature produced by the legendary Studio Ghibli and directed by Goro Miyazaki.
Not every orphan would love living at St. Morwald's Home for Children, but Earwig does. She gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants it, and it's been that way since she was dropped on the orphanage's doorstep as a baby. But all that changes the day Bella Yaga and the Mandrake come to St. Morwald's, disguised as foster parents.
Earwig is whisked off to their mysterious house full of invisible rooms, potions, and spell books, with magic around every corner. Most children would run in terror from a house like that . . . but not Earwig. Using her own cleverness-with a lot of help from a talking cat-she decides to show the witch who's boss.
A young middle grade novel by World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement-winner Diana Wynne Jones, beautifully and humorously illustrated in black and white by Caldecott Medalist Paul O. Zelinsky.
What happens when a girl who always gets her way meets a witch who won’t be bossed around?
- A Headstrong Heroine: Earwig has always been in charge. When she’s adopted by the witch Bella Yaga, she decides that’s not going to change.
- A Talking Cat: Her only ally in the mysterious house is Thomas, a grumpy black cat who can talk—and knows a thing or two about Bella Yaga’s spell books.
- Witches and Spells: From a workroom full of rats’ bones and slimy potions to a spell that gives people extra hands, Earwig is determined to make magic work for her.
- A Found Family (of sorts): Between a chaotic witch, a terrifying Mandrake who hates to be disturbed, and a talking cat, Earwig has to figure out how to build a new—and very strange—home for herself.
"Jones brings her characteristic witty humor and rich imagination to a whimsical chapter book that would undoubtedly delight as a readaloud. Stubborn and mischievous, Earwig is a likable, albeit irascible, heroine, and her triumph at the witch's expense will elicit plenty of cheerful howls."
