This is the companion piece to La Petite Sorcière, and is a copy of the very book that Lisbeth had discovered in her grandma's attic. While the first book features beautiful illustrations and tells a cute little story, this book is a real stunner. It’s put together a bit like an encyclopedia, with a double page spread introducing each witch, then followed by one or two double page spreads with short descriptions and the "history" of each woman along with pictures and drawings of "artifacts" related to them. What I found absolutely astonishing here is that Lacombe has redrawn and remade each of those using his own style (including coins, paper money, sculptures, mosaics and more), something I might not have noticed right away had I not seen many comparative examples* on his blog before getting the book. Definitely among my favourites by him. These two books are available as a set and I do strongly recommend reading them in order. The've been translated into several languages and were supposed to be published in English too, so hopefully it's just a matter of time before they become available.

*it's a long thread so keep scrolling and you'll see them all ( )

Ensimmäisenä rakastuin tämän kirjan kuvituksiin ja on harmi, ettei tarina mielestäni yllä aivan samalle tasolle. Kirja tulee pahvikotelossa, jonka sisällä on tarina ja sitten noitien sukupuu.

Tarina on ihan riittävän viehättävä, vaikka ilman kuvituksia en sille neljää tähteä olisi antanutkaan. Noitien sukupuu taas avaa taustoja Lilith-myytin takana sekä uusia näkökulmia klassisiin satuihin kuten Lumikki ja Hannu ja Kerttu. Myös todellista historiaa on sotkettu soppaan mukavasti.

Kirja on selvästi suunnattu lapsille, mutta sen verran raaka, etten ainakaan omille 4 ja 3 vuotiaalleni sitä vielä ala lukemaan. Kouluikäisille soveltuu ehkä paremmin. ( )