The Witches by Roald Dahl
I read Roald Dahl books when I was younger, but I didn’t realize how much I loved this man until I became an adult. I loved the BFG, and of course Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. Upon looking at the list of the most often challenged/banned books in America from 1990-2000, I saw that #27 was The Witches. Okay, so the book is called “Witches”, but the witches themselves aren’t even really human. At the very beinning of the book, Dahl differentiates them from people by saying that they don’t have toes. Dahl also makes witches bad creatures that need to be disposed of. You really don’t feel any sympathy for the witches, in fact you really hope that the main characters do defeat the witches. Of course, if you don’t like the idea of magic, good or bad, you still won’t be pleased with this book. Since this is my personal blog, I will say that I don’t think that there’s anything so horrible as using your imagination in order to allow you to be a more creative individual. Well at least in my humble opinion.
October 26th, 2005 at 8:41 pm
hey Cathy,
Im a highschool student doing a project on challenged books. It just so happens that “The Witches” is the book that I chose to research. I also am a huge fan of Roald Dahl, “The BFG” being one of my absolute favorite of his…But my question to you is where could I find more formal info on why this particular book was challenged? I could of course assume that it’s mainly because of the fact that it has something to do with “witch craft” but I’d prefer to have definite facts and statements as to why it was…hope to hear back from you.
October 27th, 2005 at 2:46 pm
You can contact The American Library Association directly at oif@ala.org which is the Office of Intellectual Freedom. They handle all the challenges, and I think if you ask them, they might be able to answer some of your questions. You can also search the OIF website at http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/intellectual.htm
Finally check your library and see if they have the book Banned Books 1999 Resource Guide: Free People Read Freely by Robert P Doyle. If you have any other questions, feel free to email me or talk to your local public librarian! I promise that most of us are not scary!
March 6th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I didn’t like reading anything until i read roald dahl books. they are fantastic, really!! the witches was my favourite so far. i strong recommend it. you can’t put it down until the end.
March 6th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
children read roald dahl! it’s simple wow!
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:18 am
hey cathy i am a high school student also doin this project i have a question how come this book is banned and challenged thank you ?
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Wow, im also doing this project too! I say that this book is excellent, and banning it kind of makes no sense to me. It’s just a book meant to scare little kids! I LUV IT BY THE WAY!!
October 20th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
WOW!! hahaha, everyone is doing this project… i wonder if we’re all from the same school…