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"I would like to declare Diana Wynne Jones an international treasure," proclaimed Neil Gaiman, Newbery Medalist and best-selling author. In this enchanting introduction to Diana Wynne Jones's magical and funny work, Earwig is a fearless young orphan. 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. Zelinsky. Not every orphan would love living at St. Morwald's Home for Children, but Earwig does. 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. But all that changes the day Bella Yaga and the Mandrake come to St. Morwald's, disguised as foster parents. Earwig is whisked off to their mysterious house full of invisible rooms, potions, and spell books, with magic around every corner. Most children would run in terror from a house like that . . . but not Earwig. Using her own cleverness—with a lot of help from a talking cat—she decides to show the witch who's boss. A Very Unlikely Heroine: Earwig loves her life at the orphanage where everyone does exactly what she wants. Being adopted by a witch wasn't part of the plan, but she'll make it work. A Strange Found Family: Her new "parents" are a grumpy witch named Bella Yaga and a mysterious, powerful man called the Mandrake who must never be disturbed. Witches and Magic for Kids: The house is full of invisible rooms, bubbling potions, and spell books, but Earwig is more interested in learning magic than being a servant. A Talking Animal Sidekick: She's not alone in her quest to take charge—a talking black cat named Thomas becomes her reluctant partner in magical mischief. Review: Two thumbs up from my daughter - I only found about this book through surfing HBO Max. There's a new animation by Studio Ghibli and it's done in CGI compare to more traditional approach they been doing. Read the review and it wasn't good, but I also found out that it's actually base on a book. I know that my kids would want to watch it eventually. I thought that they should read the book first. Ordered it, placed it on her desk, she read it and re-read it. She absolutely loves the book. She already read it multiple times and she eventually watched the movie. Of course she loves the book way better. Another great addition to our library. Review: VERY CUTE - I watched the movie on HBOMax and then discovered that it was a book. I thought that it was very cute. I will definitely read this to my children.

| Best Sellers Rank | #1,470,690 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #328 in Children's Books on Orphans & Foster Homes #2,582 in Children's Short Story Collections #3,063 in Children's Cat Books (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 299 Reviews |
T**M
Two thumbs up from my daughter
I only found about this book through surfing HBO Max. There's a new animation by Studio Ghibli and it's done in CGI compare to more traditional approach they been doing. Read the review and it wasn't good, but I also found out that it's actually base on a book. I know that my kids would want to watch it eventually. I thought that they should read the book first. Ordered it, placed it on her desk, she read it and re-read it. She absolutely loves the book. She already read it multiple times and she eventually watched the movie. Of course she loves the book way better. Another great addition to our library.
K**N
VERY CUTE
I watched the movie on HBOMax and then discovered that it was a book. I thought that it was very cute. I will definitely read this to my children.
C**A
Fun Quick Read
To start with I love just about anything by this author so I am always on the look-out for something new. This book is definitely geared for younger readers and would be a nice bedtime chapter book. There's enough excitement for boys or girls, but nothing too scary. There's plenty of humor and general silliness that most children would appreciate. The pictures are amusing and are a nice touch for this little story. All in all it's a great little book. I did give it a four for being too short and for not resolving or giving sufficient reason for some of the events in the story, I imagine that this may be the start of a series, and that would explain some of the hanging ideas. I guess I was hoping for a longer story. Really for me it's a 4.5
A**R
Definitely unfinished, but worth the read
I bought this after seeing the new Studio Ghibli adaptation and I don't get what the bad reviews are on about. It's a simple children's book, sure, but there's a lot to love here. It is definitely unfinished, but if I had read this as a child I would have adored it and read it over and over. The characters are interesting and the humor is on point. It's worth your time. I wouldn't buy a physical copy unless I was going to gift it to someone because it is very short, though.
M**I
It looks exciting, but ends so soon.
Another fantasy tale from Diana Wynne Jones, so I was excited when I encountered the Japanese movie which was made based on this book. Another witch like the Witch of the Waste in Howl's Moving Castle of her own book, but it looks different. It seems exciting when Earwig gets used to her new life with the witch, but the story ends with one a rather big episode and all. But still you can enjoy it.
G**K
My 6 year old loved it
A cute and fun little story, though not for all ages (demons and witches are in the tale) my 6 year old boy loved it!
N**S
Stonestreet Elementary
I'm an elementary school librarian. I read this book the last few weeks of school when students could no longer check-out. The basic story is about a girl who was dropped off at an orphanage as a baby. She was adopted by a surly witch and a mandrake to become their servant. The book tells of how Earwig, a resourceful, plucky young lady, even in what seems to be the worst situation to turn things to her advantage. The majority of the students 21 out of 23, gave this book 5 stars. The other 2 gave the book 3 stars. All the students were disappointed to learn that there would be no more Earwig books.
B**A
Precious imaginative preteen story
Precious imaginative preteen story - good for grandchildren
う**う
子どもの教材になった
映画を見ながら本をチェックすると解りやすい 子どもに英語教えるのに良い
A**ー
イラストが最高!!!
日本で映画になると聞いて、また、ハウルの動く城の作者の作品と聞いたので興味を持ちました。 子供向けでとても読みやすかったですし、一風変わった主人公にも好感が持てました。 ただ、私が一番興味をひかれたのはイラストレーション!本文にとても忠実に描かれていたので、 バックグラウンドの違い(西洋文化と投稿文化の違い)で想像するのが難しいような本文の説明を みごとにイラストが補っていたように感じました^^
D**Y
nice book
nice book. I really enjoy reading this book.
コ**ツ
DWJの原作を読む最初の1冊に
レベル YL4.5 BL4.7 面白かった! 短いけどちゃんとジョーンズで、魔法にわくわくします。 ジョーンズを初めて英語で読む人にオススメ!
T**T
It’s unfinished
This book shouldn’t have been published - it is simply unfinished. At first I thought a technical glitch affected my kindle copy because a large chunk of the story seemed to be missing. Imagine Cinderella meeting her fairy grandmother and then abruptly jumping to the happily ever after and you’ll get the gist of what happened to Earwig and the Witch as a story. It only has a beginning and a hurriedly slapped on ending which ruins what could have been a good open-ended short story.
Trustpilot
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