Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Brother and sister dodge more evil in funny, scary sequel.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
Following their encounter with the child-cooking witch in The Witch's Guide to Cooking With Children, siblings Sol and Connie flee their hometown, hoping to reach their long-lost aunt. Instead, they are soon lost in a scary forest, home to another witch, and a hunter she's cursed with hunting down children she's transformed into animals. Things get even scarier when Sol starts turning into a deer.
Is It Any Good?
THE WITCH'S CURSE is scary, funny, and heartfelt, and author Keith McGowan, helped by Yoko Tanaka's distinctive illustrations, manages this difficult balancing act in style. Characters -- good and evil -- are complex and thought-provoking, Sol and Connie's terrors and triumphs will resonate with many kids, and the fast-moving plot is full of surprises. Although this is a sequel, it includes enough essential information from the first volume that it can be read first.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Sol and Connie's relationship as siblings -- how are they like other brothers and sisters you know? How are they different?
Why are books about witches and magic so popular? What others have you read and liked?
Various characters in the story are operating under a curse that limits what they're able to do. Why do you think some of them just give up and others keep trying to do the right thing?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Yoko Tanaka
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic , Fairy Tales ) , Adventures , Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Friendship , Animals ( Wild Animals )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Henry Holt & Company, Inc.
- Publication date : March 19, 2013
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 9 - 12
- Number of pages : 304
- Available on : Nook, Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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