The Witch's Tears by Jenny Nimmo

"As Theo passed the clock he glanced up at its lifeless hands. 'What's happening?' he asked in a hushed voice. The clock gazed out helplessly, as if to say, 'Someone has stolen my breath."

It is a wild and stormy night. Theo Blossom's dad mends clocks. He has set off to help with a grandfather clock leaving Mrs Blossom, Dodie and Theo to cope alone. It is cosy inside and the ticking of all their clocks is comforting but as the children are heading home from school a neighbour warns them :

"Witches always arrive in rough weather. They lose their broomsticks and they lose their cats. So they come snooping around, trying to steal ours. ... Their clothes may be darker, and their skin more wrinkled from travelling in the wind. And there's always the hat, folded secretly into a pocket, when they don't want to be recognised."

These warnings work like a list for Theo and so when the mysterious Mrs Scarum arrives Theo starts ticking things off and soon concludes she must be a witch. Her clothes are dark and the fabric is strange, she has possibly fallen off her broomstick, she is searching for her lost black cat, but worse, all the clocks in the house seem to be out of sync.

"Just for a second they lost their rhythm. Tick-creak-tock went the wooden clock. Tick-wheeze-tock called the china shepherd. Tick-swish-tock mumbled the ormolu."

Here is an ormolu - this was a new word for me!

Adding to the tension their father has not telephoned tonight something he does every evening at precisely 5pm. Mrs Scarum seems to want to move in. She makes a large decorated cake, demands a meal of sausages and keeps watching the family cat Flora. Theo is terrified that she means to take his precious cat away and he is so worried about his dad who might be caught in the blizzard or worse. His comfortable family seems to be falling apart but only Theo can see the truth.  Or can he?

A friend who is a teacher-librarian has asked me to read a few of her older titles this week to assess if they might still be popular and so worth keeping in her library.  The Witch's Tears is a fabulous story which has stood the test of time. It was first published in 1996 and so is now listed as a modern classic. My verdict is keep this book and buy a new copy. The old cover does look a little dated.

All through The Witch's Tears I kept thinking about an old picture book by Margaret Mahy called The Witch in the Cherry Tree. Both contain a witch, cakes, a warm house, a hospitable mother, a storm and a boy who suspects the witch and her motives. I was excited to read Jenny Nimmo loves the writing of Margaret Mahy.

I first encountered Jenny Nimmo through The Snow Spider trilogy. You should also look at my review of The Stone Mouse which would be an excellent book to pair with The Witch's Tears. A picture book which you could also read along side The Witch's Tears is The Tear Thief by Carol Ann Duffy. The idea of tears turning into crystals delights me.

Here are some reviews with more plot details - Bookbag and Books for Keeps. A close look at the three covers I have included with this post might be useful for discussion with children especially after reading The Witch's Tears.  Which cover do you like? I think The Witch's tears might make a good read aloud book for a Grade 2 or 3 class.