The Witch's Child

Arthur Yorinks does not shrink from furnishing the reader with a classic tale of good and evil in this story of the consequences of love withheld and love bestowed. Beware, this book is in the Brothers Grimm tradition of intensely frightening wickedness ultimately overcome by the forces of heart-warming benevolence. This may be too intense for pre-schoolers, but not necessarily, in light of what they are exposed to in our contemporary front-page headlines. Jos. A. Smith's resplendent color illustrations on every page make this a true picture book bedtime story. "The Witch's Child" is as politically incorrect as can be, a revival of a wonder-filled, story-telling tradition and accompanied by artwork worthy of the narrative. Five stars and then some.

Arthur Yorinks' THE WITCH'S CHILD receives fan drawings by Jos. A. Smith as it tells of a witch who wants to have a child, and creates one from straw. The only trouble is - the straw child can't be brought to life. When a young girl wanders into the witch's house when she's away, she befriends Rosalie - and through her friendship finds a way to bring life to an object and survive a witch's wrath. An involving, moving story with an unpredictable ending makes for fine reading.

The Witch's Child takes us through the journey of a wicked witch creating a rag doll "child" and trying to make it come to life. Because of her meanness, the child never comes to life. The witch has turned all the kids in the neighborhood into bushes and shrubs. She goes off, and then a lost little girl who isn't under the witch's spell wanders into the house and finds the doll. She loves on it and uses the "child" for protection. Because of the nurturing nature of the little girl, the doll comes to life, and in the end protects the girl from the witch. When they defeat the witch, all the kids turn back into kids again and the world is as it should be; everyone is happy and free; kids are playing like kids are supposed to play, and there are no worries. The illustrations are kind of gloomy and dark but these convey the darkness that wicked witches have. I would have known what the story was about by looking at the pictures if there were no words on the pages. Armchair Interviews says: This was a well written, fun story and equally well illustrated book.