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The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children
I love children. Eating them, that is...
So begins this unique tale, at once comedy, adventure, and the story of a brother and sister who, like many siblings, have their differences. Can they stick together when they meet the most terrible villain of them all?
Reviews The New Yorker (online) recommends The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children:
“A semisweet literary treat for the kiddies (of about eight years or older)… humor that will delight and challenge the inquisitive youngster… Sol and Connie Blink are two exceedingly clever kids who, upon arriving in their new neighborhood, realize that something’s up at the house next door, the abode of an old lady named Holaderry (a.k.a. the witch). I love this character… the adults in this book are the perfect foils for the children… It’s also a sweet book, full of moments of sibling solidarity… gorgeous full-page illustrations, in hushed gray tones.”
USA Today reviewer Bob Minzesheimer also really enjoyed the book:
“Fans of Lemony Snicket’s bestselling ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ should love Keith McGowan’s beguiling debut, a modern version of the Grimm Brothers’ chilling tale of Hansel and Gretel. It matches a mismatched brother, 11, and sister, 8, against an ageless witch, Fay Holaderry, who has written her own cautionary tale, ‘How to Cook and Eat Children.’ The moral: Good scientific research beats a ruthless witch. Yoko Tanaka’s ghostly, Charles Addams-like drawings cast their own spell over a story that’s scary, funny and subversive.”
The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books, a journal for librarians, has this to say about The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children:
“McGowan’s modern retelling of the Hansel and Gretel plot is nuanced, fascinating, and gratifyingly dark… Sol and Connie are appealing in their individuality and in their at times prickly sibling relationship, and kids will enjoy the twist that this creepy old lady next door really is a witch instead of a sweet, misunderstood senior. Tanaka’s frequent softly shaded monochromatic illustrations are atmospheric and haunting.”
Publisher’s Weekly got caught up in the fun of The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children too:
“McGowan makes a strong debut with this contemporary recasting of Hansel and Gretel, starring 11-year-old Sol and 8-year-old Connie Blink… the story relies on Sol’s intelligence, scientific acuity and talent for research, as well as Connie’s subtle cunning, deviousness and confidence in Sol, to defeat their parents’ plot… up-to-date touches such as cellphones and the Internet make it especially accessible and appealing for thrill-seeking readers.” |
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Get (or Give) The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children:
Indie Store Near You (Indie Next List)
Barnes & Noble | Books A Million
Borders | Amazon | Indigo (Canada)
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All illustrations on KeithBooks.com are reproduced from The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children. Drawn by fine artist and children’s book illustrator Yoko Tanaka Copyright 2009. Excerpt above from The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children. Copyright and moral rights to the work asserted by Keith McGowan 2009. |
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The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children will be translated and published in France, Spain, Indonesia, and Brazil. ___________________________
The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children is a “Galley to Grab” at BEA this year. ___________________________
Laural Merlington, a great actress who does wonderful voices, is the narrator of The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children audiobook from Brilliance. ___________________________
The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children has been picked as an “inspired recommendation for kids from indie booksellers” (Fall Kid’s Indie Next List). ___________________________ |
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And the book was very well reviewed in the Seattle Times:
“Author Keith McGowan deftly reworks the Hansel and Gretel tale, complete with a dash of Roald Dahl’s ‘The Witches,’ a pinch of Lemony Snicket’s ‘Series of Unfortunate Events’ and a hint of Lois Lowry’s ‘The Willoughbys.’ Young readers will particularly love the way McGowan moves back and forth between a narrative following Sol and Connie and a spine-tingling journal kept by their odd neighbor, Fay Holaderry. Yoko Tanaka’s illustrations expand the drama and spookiness of the story.”
Recommended by indie booksellers Every season, independent booksellers nationwide pick about 16 books in each age range as “inspired recommendations for kids.” The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children was chosen as one of the handful of books they are recommending for children for the fall. This places it beside books by Andrew Clements, Sid Fleischman, Patricia Reilly Giff, Jane Smiley, Richard Peck and Neil Gaiman.
Apropos of the recommendation, here are three new reviews from independent bookstores:
Judith Lafitte, Co-Owner, Octavia Books, New Orleans, LA
“The Witch’s Guide to Cooking With Children is a wonderful remake of the tale of Hansel and Gretel. Sol and Connie move to a new neighborhood and quickly discover that there is more to neighbor Fay Holaderry than meets the eye. It’s up to them to figure out whether they can outwit Fay at her own game.”
Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
“I loved The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children (Keith McGowan), a retelling of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale. McGowan's update is both dark and unapologetically clever. Sol and Connie, children with less-than-parental parental figures, find themselves in danger of becoming the next meal of the neighborhood witch. Only their wits will save them! Intermediate readers will love the fast-paced, slightly scary plot.”
Emily Anderson, Inventory Manager, BookPeople, an independent bookstore in Austin, Texas, for 39 years
“You NEED to read this book . . . This delightful tale is as quirky as it is heartwarming, with distinct characters that readers young and old will not easily leave behind. Illustrations by Yoko Tanaka fit in perfectly with this retold classic.”
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