Little Witch Learns to Read

Little Witch #5

by Deborah Hautzig

Guess who’s learning to read? Little Witch is—and she loves it. But Mother Witch won’t allow nice books about princesses and princes in the house! Little Witch resorts to using invisibility spells and staying up late to read, but it’s starting to wear her out. When the Witch family finally discovers Little Witch’s secret reading habit, she has one last trick to change their minds about books!

Genres: Childrens, Halloween

Unknown Binding

First published September 23, 2003

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Witch, that endearing young magical practitioner who first appeared in Little Witch's Big Night , and who always manages to disappoint her mother by being too good, discovers the pleasure of the written word in this fifth beginning reader devoted to her adventures. Although her mother refuses to read to her - "Bedtime stories are for children - not witches," she screams - and forbids her to bring any books into the house, Little Witch persists, eventually winning her family over by reading Snow White to them.

As a fairy-tale lover, I was charmed by the fact that the conflict in Little Witch Learns to Read was resolved by a reading of Snow White, with all its lovely nastiness! Mother Witch's discovery that fairy-tales can be quite frightening, and often contain many gory elements, reconciles her to their more pleasant aspects. All in all, this was a cute addition to Hautzig's series about the Little Witch, and is recommended to beginning readers who enjoy witchy tales.

[Radclyffe U-Haul · Rating 5 out of 5]

genuinely feel like there's a lot to be said about how women have to learn to find themselves in stories that are basically antagonistic towards them

[Jeffrey Gao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good on you Kiki(oops Little Witch!) for spreading literacy to your obsessively stereotypical relatives! And read to them the Iliad! Your folks will get a kick out of that!