Which Witch?

Daisychains

by Janet Ahlberg, Allan Ahlberg

A picture-book folding out into a paper chain of cut-out witches, accompanied by rhyming text. Printed on front and back.

12 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 1983

About the author

Janet Ahlberg (1944-1994) was a British children's book illustrator, and the co-creator, together with her husband Allan Ahlberg, of the best-selling Jolly Postman series. Born as Janet Hall in Yorkshire in 1944, she studied at Sunderland Technical College, where she met Ahlberg. The two married in 1969, and began to work together, publishing their first co-venture - The Old Joke Book - in 1976. She won the 1978 Kate Greenaway Medal from the British Library Association - an award recognizing the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject - for Each Peach Pear Plum.

Janet Ahlberg died of breast cancer in 1994, at the age of fifty, having produced many beloved and bestselling books. Her daughter with Allan Ahlberg - Jessica Ahlberg - is also a children's book creator.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If you meet a witch, / Don't scream and run; / Whatever she does / It's only in fun..." So begins the rhyming text of this miniature fold-out paper-chain picture-book about witches. The poem—one verse per fold-out panel—advises the young reader not to panic at a witch's various shenanigans, unless of course, she speaks of being hungry. The fold-outs themselves are all witch-shaped, and depict various magical practitioners in a number of different actions, each corresponding to the verse with which they are paired.



That prolific and beloved British author/illustrator team, Janet and Allan Ahlberg, who were also a married couple, and who produced many popular picture-books over the course of their partnership, from their Jolly Postman series to their Kate Greenaway Medal-winning Each Peach Pear Plum , created the Daisychains series of fold-out paper-chain picture-books between 1983 and 1985. Which Witch?, published in 1983, is one of around nine titles in the series (all now quite difficult to find), and came to my attention during one of my periodic searches for new (or new to me) witchy picture-books—a particular pet project of mine. I am very glad to have tracked it down, as it is a fun little novelty item, with an entertaining poem that would make for a good read-aloud, and appealing artwork on the witch-shaped pages. I would love to see this one either reprinted or remade as a full-sized picture-book, although the latter seems unlikely to happen, given Janet Ahlberg's death in 1994. In any case, this is one I would recommend (if one can obtain it) to fans of the Ahlbergs, and to young people who enjoy witchy fare and/or unusual picture-book formats.