The Witches' Kitchen

October 11, 2010
Artist Williams has created an unusual debut novel that echoes his accompanying lavish pencil illustrations: shadowy, mysterious, and vaguely disturbing. When the Toad wakes up, the amphibian is dangling upside down over a bubbling cauldron in the hands of two witches. She doesn't know who or where she is, but she knows this is not a good place to be. Escaping, she discovers she is in the Kitchen, an infinite, magic-infused "world of unending chaos" that is as black as the witches' hearts. She finds a few creatures willing to help her find a way out of the dangerous darkness: Natterjack, an iron-handed imp who refuses to sacrifice his artistic soul; Horsefly, a fierce sword-bearing fairy; and Sootfoot and Pug, two other tiny travelers looking to get home. Under siege by the witches' monsters, each hop toward freedom brings the Toad closer to understanding her dilemma and recovering her origins. Sometimes dipping into horror territory, Williams's writing is effective in bringing his intense and odd characters to life, but the story mainly feels like a vehicle to show off Williams's skilled portraits of his ghoulish menagerie. Ages 12–up.

February 1, 2011

Gr 7-10-From a fantasy illustrator comes a dark and twisted fairy tale in which a toad wakes up dangling over a bubbling cauldron. Her memory nonexistent, she manages to escape into the Witches' Kitchen, only to find that it is endless, constantly changing, and full of malevolent creatures wishing to eat her. While Toad desperately searches for a way out of the kitchen and the witches' evil grasp, she encounters unlikely companions including an iron-handed artistic imp named Natterjack and a fairy with swords for wings. Witch sisters Sarafina and Emilina desperately want to kill Toad for her magic before her new friends help her to recover her memory or escape the kitchen. Williams's pencil illustrations are the high point of this book. As the story unfolds, each darkly terrifying creature is more sinister and threatening than the one before, from skeletal birds to demons. Williams leaves the story with some unfinished plot twists and hints of a sequel. The writing is at times choppy, and with so many characters introduced, some readers may find the story difficult to follow. However, true aficionados of dark fantasy will savor this disturbing tale and take the time to sort out the characters and plot twists and turns.-Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.