Rose Impey

Titchy-witch wasn't sure she liked it when her baby sister Weeny Witch was born. With all of the attention, praise and play being lavished on this noisy, smelly newcomer, she began to feel a little bit twitchy, and when given the opportunity, a spell just popped out! When Weeny-witch's head disappears as a result, it falls to Cat-a-Bogus to set things right, with his own magic, leading Titchy-witch to realize that little sisters aren't so bad after all...

The third of twelve beginning readers from British author/illustrator team Rose Impey and Katharine McEwen to chronicle the adventures of the eponymous little magic-maker, Titchy-Witch and the Disappearing Baby takes a common childhood experience—the feelings of jealousy and resentment that are sometimes attendant upon the arrival of a new baby sibling—and gives them a fantastic patina. Like its two predecessors, the story is simple but engaging, and the artwork expressive and full of fun. I was reminded, while reading, of Jane O'Connor's 1986 I Can Read Book, Lulu and the Witch Baby, which covers similar ground. Recommended to beginning readers who enjoy witchy fare, as well as to fans of this witchy character.… (mer)

Titchy Witch and the Bully Boggarts (original British edition)

Titchy-witch confronts Gobby-goblin and his bully brother in this early reader from British author/illustrator team Rose Impey and Katharine McEwen, the second in a series of twelve devoted to her witchy adventures. Using her spells in retaliation for the goblin brothers' actions, and again when their seven boggart cousins show up after school, she is uncowed, and while she accepts her feline companion Cat-a-bogus' reprimand for not waiting for him by the school gates, she is already planning her next salvo in her war with her schoolyard enemies...

A number of years ago I read the Americanized edition of this book, Wanda Witch and the Bullies, and found it an engaging little witchy confection, perfect for beginning readers with a taste for such fare. That being said, I never went on to read the rest of the books in the series, either the three others published in the USA, or the rest, only ever published in the UK. Having recently begun reading the entire series, in the UK editions, I am able to compare this original, Titchy Witch and the Bully Boggarts, to the American edition. Reading them side-by-side, I can pick out some minor differences in language and vocabulary—Titchy-witch turning one of the goblin brother's noses into a sausage here, but a hot-dog in the American edition, for example. The major difference seems to be the change in the heroine's name, from Titchy-Witch to Wanda Witch, and the transformation of boggarts into goblins. I find the former unnecessary and the latter unfortunate. Boggarts are creatures of English folklore, and while they might not be as well-known in the states as goblins, I don't see why they couldn't be included. One more chance lost, for children here to learn something new, something they might appreciate knowing later on in their reading lives, when they encounter boggarts in works like the Harry Potter books, or in traditional folktales. There were a few other places where the changes made struck me as arising from a culturally specific didactic impulse—when the boggart cousins appear here, they are described as traveling in a gang because "they're so stupid they'd get lost on their own," a sentence left out of the American edition altogether—but on the whole, the two most obtrusive changes were to the heroine's name, and to the type of creature she confronts.

In any case, leaving that all aside, I found this an entertainingly witchy tale, and a worthy follow-up to Titchy Witch and the Birthday Broomstick. Recommended to fans of the character, and to beginning readers who enjoy stories about witches.… (mer)

Immensely excited to be turning seven, Titchy-witch was up early on the big day, long before her parents—Witchy-witch and Wendel—her baby sister Weeny-witch or any of her various pets had risen. Given a broomstick on this important occasion, Titchy-witch began to practice under the tutelage of the mostly indifferent family feline, Cat-a-bogus. But her growing skill led her to grow careless, and soon she was violating all of the rules, including the one that said she could only practice indoors. Soaring through the sky on her broom, would Titchy-witch be able to control her flight? And what would she do when she met Witchy-witch in mid-flight, and disaster struck...?

The first of twelve beginning readers from British author/illustrator team Rose Impey and Katharine McEwen devoted to the adventures of the eponymous Titchy-witch, Titchy Witch and the Birthday Broomstick explores a common theme in witchy lore: learning to fly, and the challenges thereof. The text is quite simple, as you would expect from a beginning reader, but the story itself is engaging. The artwork is colorful and full of fun. Many of the little details, from the various animal companions—the aforementioned Cat-a-bogus the cat, Eric the spider, Victor the vulture—to the home that is both modern and magical, add to the reader's enjoyment. I have read one other book from this series—the American edition of the second book, Titchy Witch and the Bully Boggarts, which was published in the states as Wanda Witch and the Bullies—but I look forward to reading the entire series in the original British editions. Perhaps for those four books which were published in the USA, I will do a side-by-side reading of the American and British editions, to contrast and compare. However that may be, this is one I would recommend to beginning readers who are fantasy fans and who enjoy witchy fare.… (mer)