The Witches Audiobook By Roald Dahl cover art

The Witches

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The Witches

By: Roald Dahl
Narrated by: Miranda Richardson
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Soon to be a major motion picture starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Rock!

This is not a fairy tale. This is about real witches.

Grandmamma loves to tell about witches. Real witches are the most dangerous of all living creatures on Earth. There's nothing they hate so much as children, and they work all kinds of terrifying spells to get rid of them. Her grandson listens closely to Grandmamma's stories - but nothing can prepare him for the day he comes face-to-face with The Grand High Witch herself!

©2007 Roald Dahl (P)2007 Penguin Audio Action & Adventure Classics Family Life Fantasy & Magic Growing Up & Facts of Life Humorous Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Funny Witty

Critic reviews

"Dahl's stories work better in audio than in print.... The best of the lot, I think, is Miranda Richardson's The Witches. In her voice, the main witch, a kind of demented Lady Hitler with a hoarse Teutonic caw, rolls her rrr's like a machine gun. She gives a musical delivery that can turn the word 'cheese' into a five-syllable delicacy spilled in a descending glissando of notes. My middle-school children could hardly understand this character, partly because whenever she started speaking they screamed with laughter.... Richardson's élan and glee at The Witches, well, bewitched me." (Gregory Maguire, The New York Times Book Review)

“Roald Dahl sometimes shared a tonal kinship with Ogden Nash, and he could demonstrate a verbal inventiveness nearly Seussian...[His] stories work better in audio than in print.” (The New York Times)
Classic Children's Tale • Thrilling Adventure • Stellar Performance • Animated Character Voices • Spooky Elements
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How could the performance have been better?

The voice performed for the Grand High Witch is almost impossible to understand. It's too much. My kids and I were all confused as we listened on our commutes to school. Other than that, it was great.

poor character voice

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LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I already read some of the other roald dahl books like Matilda, The Witches, And The BFG (the big friendly giant) and loved them all.

THE WITCHES

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I'm not as big a fan of this one as Matilda, but my kid loves it. Thumbs up.

my kid loves it

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Miranda Richardson's narration of this classic tale is mostly very good. Unfortunately, the sound effects mainly detract, and her representation of The Grand High Witch is painful; she yells and shrieks, and it is often difficult to even understand what she's saying.

Pretty good

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Very imaginative, though a little frightening for some younger listeners (good for 7 and above).

Wow

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Great story but the voice of the Grand High Witch was so pitchy and loud it made me want to smash my iPad in spite of the screechy voice I loved this book and highly recommended it to people five and up

Good but the voice

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Glad I finally read the source material for the movie that scared me most as a kid!

Even better than the movie I grew up being terrified of!

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‘The Witch’ is a great Roald Dahl story. Dahl was never afraid to go dark for his children’s’ books and this novel’s premise — witches seeking to murder kids — was one of his darkest.

Miranda Richardson does a good job reading the story and acting out the different characters. There has been some criticism about how she reads for the Grand High Witch (she does a bit of screaming) and while I see where they’re coming from it wasn’t too bad. The character only appears in a few chapters regardless.

One issue I had was the use of sound effects throughout the story. They aren’t overwhelming but they are unnecessary and even distracting at times. The stock audio of a woman screaming is particularly annoying.

Caveats aside this is a great novel with a strong performance from the narrator.

Great story and performance, unnecessary sound effects

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Where does The Witches rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The highest this is one of my most enjoyed books, so far

What did you like best about this story?

The way the person narrated it.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Luke sees the Grand High Witches Face.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I read it at school separate days.

Any additional comments?

Yes, This book is Amazing.

This Book Is Amazing!!

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Extraordinary reading perforrmance made an entertaining story even better. Would happily listen to anything Ms. Richardson reads.

Great reader!

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