Product Description

Wonderfully spooky and atmospheric story for newly confident readers, by an award-winning author. A Collins Roaring Good Read for confident young readers. In a whirl of rainy weather, a strange woman appears on Theo and Dodie's doorstep making Theo very uneasy. His mother and little sister do not seem at all alarmed by her. Dodie loves Mrs Scarum's stories and her wild dancing. But Theo suspects there might be trouble affot, not helped by the fact that his father, usually as reliable as the clocks he repairs, has failed to return home. When Theo is told that you can tell a witch by her tears -- if they turn to crystal, she is definitely one. But Mrs Scarum is too happy, she will never cry, so Theo will never know and neither will the readers! all is left to the imagination in this beautifully written novel for confident young readers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #138462 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-05
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

About the Author
Jenny Nimmo has been an actor, researcher, floor-manager and script editor for children's television. Her first book The Bronze Trumpeter was published in 1975. The Snow Spider won the Tir na N'Og award and the Smarties Grand Prix. Her most recent book , for older readers, is Milo's Wolves. Jenny Nimmo was born in Windsor, Berkshire and now lives in Wales with her artist husband and three bi-lingual children.

Excerpted from The Witch's Tears by Jenny Nimmo, Paul Howard. Copyright © 2002. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
It was an icy day.The wind was cold
enough to freeze your breath and dark
clouds tore across the sky like ragged horses.
Theo,running home from school ,wished
that his house was closer.It stood right at
the end of the village street, a small stone
cottage with a dark wood behind it. They
called it The Clock House, because Theo ’s
father collected and mended clocks: old
clocks with chipped feet and scratched faces
that nobody wanted; clocks with pendulums,
springs,wheels and tiny hammers; clocks
that filled the house with cheerful ‘tick-
tock, tick-tock ’,s’ though its heart were
beating.

"Hurry,Dodie!" Theo called to his sister
who was trailing behind. She was gazing at a
flock of birds, swinging on the wind like
blown-about bits of cloth.
"It ’s getting dark," Theo shouted..
Dodie took no notice. Now she was
singing to herself and pirouetting on the
pavement. Dodie was seven, red-haired,
freckle-faced girl who seemed to fear
nothing. Theo was older, but he was secretly
fraid of the dark and found it easy to
believe in ghosts. His mother said he had too
much imagintion. Theo couldn ’t help it.

"Afternoon,Theo!" said Mr Oak. His grey scarf was pulled over his chin and his peaked cap shadowed his eyes.
Every day he waited for Theo to pass his gate on the way
home. The old man always had strange
tale or a funny story to tell. But today Mr
Oak wasn ’t smiling. He looked as though he
Ha d something grim to say, a story Theo
might not want to hear.

Customer Reviews

Exciting and compassionate..
My five year old son loved this book, as did I, and have happily read it a few times. My son is captivated with 'witches', but this is the most creative and endearing witch story we have read. It is not full of stereotypes, leaves space for the imagination, and honours childrens thoughts and feelings about the universe. This is a warm and compassionate story that I believe, highlights two different attitudes to life. One can be slightly cynical and afraid, or one can have an open and light heart. It shows kids its worth keeping an open mind, and that can only be a good thing!

Wonderful!!
A wonderfully moving story, my children love it nearly as much as i do ;-) Jenny Nimmo can write a lot in a few sentances, letting out a lot of the story in a short space. A firm favorite in our home!