By Sir Terry Pratchett

I have mentioned before on this blog that my Dad is the one who introduced me to many interesting books by reading to me every night. The Tiffany Aching book series is one that he has read to me throughout my childhood. Even before he ever read any Discworld to me, my Dad was reading to my Mum, and I would overhear when we were sharing a room on vacation.

“Tiffany wants to be a witch when she grows up.

A proper one, with a pointy hat. And flying, she’s always dreamed of flying (though it’s cold up there- you have to wear really thick pants, two layers.)

But she’s worried Tiffany isn’t a very ‘witchy’ name. And a witch has always protected Tiffany’s land, to stop the nightmares getting through.

Now the nightmares have taken her brother. And it’s up to her to get him back.

With a horde of unruly fairies at her disposal, Tiffany is not alone. And she is the twelfth grandchild of Granny Aching: shepherdess extraordinaire and protector of the land.

Tiffany Aching now, there’s a rather good name for a witch.”

For those who haven’t read this blog before, I will do a short spoiler free review before I go on to my spoiler review.

 This is a wonderful book that depicts the adventure of a 9-year-old girl trying to save her brother. Tiffany Aching is my favorite female protagonist. If you are a parent, this book will be not only a great book for young girls to read but there is a lovely vocabulary.

For my spoiled review, I have three thoughts.

Firstly, the Nac Mac Feegle, also known as the Wee Free Men.  Even though these beings are not the main characters as Tiphany Aching is, that doesn’t change the fact that these small Scottish pictsies are incredibly fascinating. I find the details of their culture and the way they are portrayed interesting. It is a fact that they are mostly seen as just thieves, but they do have some morals. On that note, if you are having trouble understanding them, try reading it out loud. Sir Terry Pratchett writes all his accents phonetically.

Secondly, how this book deals with the loss of grandparents. The fact that Tiphany has regrets about what she did or didn’t say feels so very real. Something you should know about me is that I grew up in England, and all my family, other than my parents, live in America. That means that time with each grandparent was somewhat sparse.  Growing up, I would only see them every few years. So, when I got the phone call that my grampa John Hansen had died, I could only think of the times I hadn’t paid the attention I should have. I believe that Sir Terry Pratchett shows that loss can live in a person.

Thirdly, I need to talk to you about fairy tales in the book, We see that Discworld has the same fairy tales that we do. This is shown by the fact that when Tiffany talks about stories that don’t make sense, she brings up many examples that reference Grimm’s fairy tales. This has two effects, one is the fact that Tiphany wants to be a witch because of her hair and eye colour. This is because in the fairy stories, all the princesses had blonde hair with blue eyes or red hair with green eyes. If you had brown hair and brown eyes, you would be the dairy maid or the servant or the witch. Secondly, what happens to Mrs. Snapperly. The fact that when the Baron’s son goes missing, they claim that Mrs. Snapperly had to kill the boy and cooked him in the oven. Tiffany was the only one to measure that the oven was only 11 inches deep. In this book, belief in fairytales killed a woman.

There is more I would like to talk about, but it will make more sense in the next review.

Happy reading to all and to all a good night.