The Barnes & Noble Review
The Secret of Platform 13 and Which Witch? author Eva Ibbotson tells a magical tale about a do-gooder witch who gets involved with the wrong guy.
Heckie is a young, kindly witch with a remarkable ability: She can change anything into an animal. So when she meets a boy, Daniel, after graduating from a good witch school, Heckie and her pal set out to eliminate the world of bad people by changing them into critters. After Heckie conjures up a friendly dragon who reacts to evildoers and transforms a nasty nursing home owner into a warthog, she meets a furrier (Lionel Knacksap) who suspiciously asks for her hand in marriage. Unfortunately, Heckie doesn't realize that her fiancé is only out for snow leopard pelts, but she reunites with a long-lost witch friend, and her two buddies -- along with some other witches -- help Heckie get back on a good track.
An Ibbotson story with many bewitchingly funny elements, Not Just a Witch will appeal to fans while finding its place on the shelves of Roald Dahl and Bruce Coville readers. A fun follow-up after reading Platform 13 and the author's other fantastic bestsellers. Matt Warner
The author of Dial-a-Ghost and Which Witch? conjures more rib-tickling entertainment in this fantasy featuring a witch bent on saving the world from wickedness. After graduating from witch school and settling in the small town of Wellbridge as a pet shop owner, Heckie, an animal witch, begins her campaign to flush out evildoers and transform them into exotic beasts. With the help of a motley crew of other witches and wizards, three young human beings and her "dragworm" (her half-dragon-half-worm "familiar"), she successfully manages to change a cruel nursing home director into a "warthog with a greedy snout." She then goes on to turn an abusive chicken farmer into a rare fish. Trouble brews when one of the most ghastly men in town, Lionel Knacksap, a furrier, witnesses Heckie's power and hatches a plot to sweep Heckie off her feet with his charms and make a tidy profit along the way. Blinded by love and seduced by soft-center chocolates, Heckie nearly creates disaster when she agrees to supply her new beau with 300 snow leopards. Ibbotson again blends hilarious social commentary and classic themes of good overcoming evil into a potent recipe for fun. Hawkes's whimsical portrayals of offbeat heroes and deliciously despicable villains add to the merriment. Ages 8-12. (Aug.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Gr 5 Up-There are some things you can always count on when you read a "Redwall" story. The bad creatures are really bad. The good creatures are really good. There will be adorable Dibbuns, gluttonous young tricksters, and brave and bold heroes and heroines. Adventure? Your buckle will definitely be swashed. And, of course, there's Redwall Abbey, the heart of a magical land. The fact that the actual stories tend to be somewhat interchangeable is mere quibbling. In this outing, Loamhedge was once a place of healing and magic, abandoned long ago because of a plague. A young wheelchair-bound haremaid named Martha is visited in a dream by Martin the Warrior, who tells her that she will find a cure there. Sarobando and Bragoon agree to make the search, and are soon joined by young scallywags Horty, Fenna, and Springald. Meanwhile, two vermin hordes converge on the abbey, determined to steal Martin's magical sword. They are thwarted by Lonna, a badger out for revenge against Raga Bol, leader of one of the hordes, and by the Redwallers themselves, led by a surprisingly forceful Martha, who in the end regains the ability to walk without any magical help at all. Like its predecessors, Loamhedge is a sophisticated read, filled with larger-than-life characters, more than a little violence, almost incomprehensible dialects, and all kinds of humor. The conclusion is ultimately satisfying-the good creatures win, the bad creatures lose, and Redwall Abbey remains a refuge and a place of peace.-Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Well-intentioned witches follow their hearts instead of their heads, with nearly disastrous results, in Ibbotson's latest caper. After a tiff drives them apart, two kindhearted, and previously inseparable, graduates of witch school set off to rid different towns of evildoers: Dora, by turning them to stone; Heckie (Hecate), by transforming them into zoo animals. Cottoning on to their abilities, slimy furrier Lionel Warthag contrives to woo both, planning to make a massive killing (in more ways than one) by tricking Heckie into turning the local prison's 300 inmates into highly marketable snow leopards. The author trots in her customary cast of caricatured adults and lively, intelligent children, presents a varied catalogue of criminals, including a ruthless chicken farmer and a racist demagogue, then brings her tale to a satisfying close with Warthag behind bars, and the witches friends again. Hawkes dresses the farce, previously published across the pond in 1989, with a cover and a stingy assortment of interior drawings. Not Ibbotson in top form, but sure to be snapped up by the legion of new fans she's gained in the Harry Potter interregnums. (Fiction. 10-12)
