Earwig and the Witch

By: Diana Wynne Jones

Narrated by: Charlotte Parry

An icon in the children’s fantasy genre, Diana Wynne Jones garnered admiration and countless awards over the years for her dazzling works. In Earwig and the Witch, listeners meet Earwig, who is not your typical orphan by any stretch. Unlike most, she loves it at St. Morwald’s Home for Children, where she knows everyone and usually gets her way. So when Earwig gets adopted by a strange woman named Bella Yaga, she wants no part of it - especially after she finds out Bella is an evil witch.

Now Earwig will have to use all of her considerable wit and charm (and the help of a talking cat) to get out of this mess and back home safely.

©2012 Diana Wynne Jones (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC

Really good

The studio ghibli movie pretty much follows the book exactly but earwigs mom isn’t in the book like the movie. Maybe studio ghibli did that so they can make a sequel idk. But it’s a cute story.

Excellent narration and humour in this lively short story!

what fun! caught and kept my attention! I had no idea this author did short titles, and I am so glad to have found! highly recommend!

Left me wanting much more ... Poor Diana.

What did you love best about Earwig and the Witch?

This is a fascinating story told in DWJ's signature style with totally unexpected turns that feel natural. There is no formula to her stories, everything is always a surprise.

What about Charlotte Parry’s performance did you like?

Very clear, very varied, just like the mischievous child she portrays.

Any additional comments?

My understanding is that this is Diana Wynne Jones' last book, and she died leaving it unfinished. It would have been a marvelous book, but it is sadly not finished, and the ending drops off abruptly. I still highly recommend it, and everything else she wrote.

Earwig is charming

This is a lovely tale of magic that sparks the imagination and left me wanting fired bread. The only thing I disliked about the story was that the ending was anticlimactic in my opinion.

At last!

At last! After reading a gazillion tales of evil orphanages and stepparents, a happy orphanage. Erika is the little mischievous sprite, taken from her beloved home. But it is that spark that lets her reach her dream in the new place. For those of us lucky enough to see Studio Ghibli’s rendition broadcast on NHK Dec 2020, double fortune.