The Witches written by Roald Dahl in 1984 is now an exciting graphic novel by award winning graphic artist Penelope Bagieu. Older middle grade readers will enjoy the full range of action from a little scary to so scary it’s fun!
An eight-year boy has just lost his parents in a car crash and is now living with his Grandmama. He needs her to tell him stories to calm his fears. However, being a very unusual pipe smoking Grandmama she tells him a story about witches. She says today they live all over the world and their primary purpose is to get rid of all children!
The illustrations are clever and responsive to the story. Grandmama says witches are difficult to identify because they take the form of women. She goes on to say they wear gloves so no one will see their claws, wigs so no one can see their bald heads and she adds, “Witches have wide nostrils for sniffing out children.” There is a clever chart that shows all of their traits.
The boy and his ailing Grandmama are directed by her doctor to go to a hotel in a warmer climate for a rest. And they do just that. However, a Convention of Witches is getting underway at the very same hotel. When the boy wanders into a conference room for a look around he is trapped there as hundreds of witches begin to gather to hear a keynote speech from the Grand High Witch herself. Her topic is their new Delayed Action Mouse Maker that will turn children into mice forever!
The story and pictures are a real romp at this point especially in the scenes in the hotel kitchen where the boy, who has already been turned into a mouse, is trying to dump the Mouse Maker potion into the witches’ soup before it is served to each and every witch. The colorful drawings are wonderfully animated and full of great facial expressions and clever details.
THE WITCHES: The Graphic Novel by Penelope Bagieu is an energetic presentation of this dark classic for readers 8-12 years of age (graphix / an imprint of Scholastic, 2020).
Activity Questions for THE WITCHES: The Graphic Novel
There is a chart in this book that shows the six physical traits all witches in this story have in common. How could you add to the descriptions of the nose, feet, hands and hair? What further physical traits could you add to this list? Think about it. Let your imagination fly. Then, draw your own chart. Have fun!
Take this opportunity to read The Witches by Roald Dahl. The story is available online. In what way is it different from the story as told in Bagieu’s graphic novel? Which format speaks to you more effectively? Why?
Think about the following characters as shown in this graphic novel and what each brings to the story: the boy, the Grandmama, the Grand High Witch and the Cook. Who is the meanest? Who is the funniest? Who displays the most empathy, “a feeling with” other characters? Who is the most angry? Who is the bravest? After considering all four characters including how they each dress and move give each of them an appropriate nickname.
