The Witches

Dahl, R., & Blake, Q. (1983). The Witches. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.

               

Genre: Fantasy Fiction

Grade Level: 4th-8th

Summary: This book starts with the narrator insisting that witches are real and that the following story is based on his own personal encounter with them. As, the story begins, we see that the narrator (a seven year old boy) was left in the care of his Grandmamma when his parents died in car accident. The narrator loved his 80 something Grandmamma more than anything. And it was from his Grandmamma that he first learned about witches. The narrator finds out that witches look like women, but there are certain ways you can possibly spot a witch. A witch can be seen scratching her head because witches are bald and are forced to wear wigs, witches also wear gloves all the time because they have claws, witches have square feet with no toes, and witches have bigger nostrils than a real women in order to be be able to smell children. The reason the witches need to be able to smell children is to be able to get rid of them, because they hate children. At first the narrator was a bit unsure if he should believe his Grandmamma, but then his Grandmamma told him about the 5 children she personally knew who were rid of by witches. Then the narrator has his first encounter with a witch when he is building his tree house, luckily he climbs the tree and the witch leaves. Unfortunately, when the narrator and his Grandmamma go vacation at a hotel, the narrator stumbles upon a huge group of witches  that are staying at the same exact hotel for their Annual Meeting held by the Grand High Witch herself.  There, the narrator becomes trapped in the room where the witches hold their meeting and he learns that they plan to turn every child in England into mice. The narrator gets caught and turned into a mouse when the meeting is over. The narrator and Grandmamma agree they must stop the witches evil plan and do so by stealing the Delayed Action Mouse-Maker and putting it in the witches food. The witches are turned into mice and the narrator (who remains a mouse) and his Grandmamma save the children of England from an awful fate.

• Setting: England & Norway
• Theme: Family & The idea that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to despite obstacles
• Point of View: First person
• Characters: The narrator, Grandmamma, Bruno, the witches, & the Grand High Witch

Lesson Sketch:

• Lesson Objective: Students will analyze their past dreams and goals and set two new goals they would like to accomplish by the end of the school year.
• Questions:
  • 1. The narrator admits that his biggest dream is to one day be the owner of a White Mouse Circus, what are some your dreams in life?
  • 2. The narrator is never afraid to set big goals for himself despite his obstacles. Describe an instance in which you had to over come an obstacle in order to accomplish a goal.
• Lesson Activity: Students will complete a collage with pictures and words that motivate and inspire them.
• Resources:
  • http://www.roalddahl.com/create-and-learn/teach/teach-the-stories/the-witches-lessons
  • http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/library/books/the-witches
  • http://www.henry4school.fr/Literature/roald-dahl/dahl.htm

The Witches is a great and really fun books to read. This is the type of book that really gets students hyped about reading. I actually read a lot of Roald Dahl’s books in elementary and this book was one of my favorites. The Witches is a banned book for two reasons. One of the reasons it was banned was because people argued it was sexist that Roald Dahl portrayed women as witches. And although there are instances where this reading could be used to discuss gender roles, it is evident that Roald Dahl did not intend to offend women. There is a place in the book where he clearly says that witches are NOT really women, despite the fact that they LOOK like women. Dahl also says he does not wish to speak badly of women. Another reason this book has been banned, was because it was thought to encourage satanic behavior. However, in my opinion, there is nothing satanic about this book or realistically terrifying about this book. This book, in fact, can be used for many awesome lesson plans. This book can be used for creative writing by having children write a short story about some magical creature that “exists” and how to find them. This book can also be tied to other fairy tales for younger students. This story can also be used for poetry and rhyme because there is a part of the story in which the Grand High Witch only talks in rhyme.