The Witches

 The Witches, by Roald Dahl, 224 pages

I am continuing to read Roald Dahl books as my family has dictated. I remember watching this movie when I a kid and the book is pretty close to the film, except for the ending. I'm noticing a running theme in a lot of Dahl's work: orphaned children and awful parents. There is definitely a grown-ups versus adults feel to a lot of them, which I think is one of the reasons whey they remain so popular with kids. I wonder if he lost his parents when he was young. They also make great intros to children's fantasy, since there's some magic and whimsy in each of them. I do remember the movie being at the end of the era of 80's kids movies that were also kind of scary. But the book also scared me! Some of Blake's illustrations are a little hideous, but they do the job. But this might one of my favorites so far. Kids being turned into something even smaller but still winning the day--you gotta love it. Great book to read around the Halloween season. Next up: James and the Giant Peach. Recommended for kids and adults.