Earwig does not want to be adopted, considering she has the whole orphanage running just how she likes it. The Matron promptly changed the baby's name to Erica, but it turned back to Earwig easily enough.Įarwig's best friend is a timid boy named Custard. I'll be back for her when I've shook them off. Got the other twelve witches all chasing me. Meet Earwig, a girl who was left at the orphanage as a baby with the following note: In her signature style, Jones pops magic into a rather ordinary contemporary world. In fact, I'm pretty sure you will find yourself wishing for a sequel once you hit the last page. Earwig and the Witch, published Januin the U.S., is, as far as I know, her last book.Įarwig and the Witch is for younger middle grade readers and is a very slim read, but it packs a lot in a few short pages.

Jones passed away last year after losing her fight with cancer. Using her own cleverness-with a lot of help from a talking cat-she decides to show the witch who's boss.Did you watch the movie, Howl's Moving Castle? It was based, of course, on a book by British fantasy writer extraordinaire, Diana Wynne Jones (see my overview of her work in this post from 2009). Most children would run in terror from a house like that. Earwig is whisked off to their mysterious house full of invisible rooms, potions, and spell books, with magic around every corner. But all that changes the day Bella Yaga and the Mandrake come to St. She gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants it, and it's been that way since she was dropped on the orphanage doorstep as a baby. Morwald's Home for Children, but Earwig does. Not every orphan would love living at St. When she finds herself in a house of dark magic, she does whatever she can to adapt-especially if it means that she'll learn a little magic herself! A young middle grade novel by World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement‒winner Diana Wynne Jones, beautifully illustrated in black and white by Caldecott Medalist Paul O. In this enchanting introduction to Diana Wynne Jones's magical and funny work, Earwig is a fearless young orphan. 'I would like to declare Diana Wynne Jones an international treasure,' proclaimed Neil Gaiman, Newbery Medalist and best-selling author.

Diana wynne jones earwig and the witch