Product Description

Virginia Hamilton draws upon her extensive knowledge of folktales in this "scare tale," in which young James Lee discovers his Uncle Big Anthony has been cursed by a Wee Winnie Witch, who rides him like a broom across the night sky! When the witch captures James Lee and takes him along, Mamma Granny knows just what to do. She fills the Wee Winnie Witch's skin, which the Wee Winnie removes before her ride, with hot pepper. When it's back in place, Wee Winnie's burnt to a crisp! Full of Virginia Hamilton's poetic vernacular and authentic details, this is a perfect thrill for any spooky night.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1471972 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5–Hamilton has transformed her knowledge of witch beliefs in black folklore into an original tale. Wee Winnie changes from a black cat into her witch shape and hounds Uncle Big Anthony so relentlessly that she reduces him from a big, strapping man into one who is "lean and bent-over tired," an "about-gone, Uncle Shrunken Anthony." And as if that weren't enough, while his horrified nephew James Lee looks on from his bedroom window next door, Wee Winnie Witch takes off her skin and hangs it on a hook. She then grabs hold of Uncle Big Anthony, puts a bridle in his mouth, and rides him through the air, pulling James Lee right out of the window and onto his uncle's back as she flies by. Only Mama Granny's quick thinking saves the day. Hamilton's language is redolent with expressions that suggest African storytelling. Moser's large, colored-wood engravings, bordered in black and white, are strong and textured with horizontal and vertical lines. Illustrations show the hag, her black pointed hat in sharp contrast to an enormous moon, with bulging eyes glowing out of a lumpy body shed of the skin she is holding in her clawlike hand. This tale is admirably suited to Halloween telling, or for any time that shivers are in order.–Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 3-6. Hamilton, who died in 2002, brought us many unforgettable stories from her research in African American folklore. This original scare tale, which may be her creepiest, is a wonderful horror story that draws on traditional beliefs about witches hanging up their skins and riding people using braided hair as a bridle. Moser's framed, colored wood engravings do a great job of bringing the wild, shivery adventure close to home, their black backgrounds and strong lines lit with garish Halloween images in shades of green and red. The focus is on young James Lee, who sees Uncle Big Anthony taken by the Witch. She comes creeping like a cat, takes off her skin, hangs it on the wall next to Uncle's overalls, and rides him, holding on to his braided hair. One night she takes James Lee along for the ride. Far-seeing Mama Granny comes to the rescue, using a potion to trap the demon. Moser's realistic portrait of Mama Granny, bent over a stick but still solid and strong under the moonlit sky, is as memorable as the garish image of the skinless witch. Even better, Hamilton makes clear that James Lee enjoys the ride as much as he relishes the witch's grisly end; so will the middle-grade readers--especially at Halloween. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Starred, "This is a story about witches hanging up their skins and riding people using braided hair as a bridle." -- Booklist, June 1st, 2004

Customer Reviews

Wicked
Just how far do you chose to believe a child when they tell you they want to be scared? Do they really know what they're asking for or are they just going to huddle under their bedcovers late at night and have nightmares for weeks on end when you give in to their demands? The book, "Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny" raises such questions because it's honestly a rather horrific peace of work. A well-researched, folklore accurate, beautifully written horrific work, but a horrific one just the same. Penned by the genius that brought us "The House of the Dies Drear" and "Sweet Whispers Brother Rush", Virginia Hamilton wrote this tale just before her death. Now with accompanying engravings by Barry Moser it's an honestly original and disturbing piece of literature. If Halloween rolls around and you want to show the kids a tale that will honestly knock their socks off, you couldn't do any better than this dark evocative tale of skinless witches, bridled men, and truly evil felines.

There's something wrong with James Lee's Uncle Big Anthony. Once a large strapping fellow, Anthony's been wasting away lately. There are mysterious scratch marks on his shirts and a tear at the corner of his mouth, "where a cat-wich Winnie must've tried to bridle him". The neighbors are saying that a Wee Winnie (a witch) must be after Uncle Big Anthony and there's nothing that can be done. James Lee doesn't know about that, so he's determined to help any way they can. Still, it's only with the aid of Mama Granny's spice-hot pepper witch-be-gone potion that one Wee Winnie Witch meets an ugly but well-deserved demise.

After reading the book it's difficult to figure out how exactly this creation could have been published without the accompanying Barry Moser illustrations. Evoking everything from lynching to slavery through the meticulous use of symbolism, light, and shadow, these pictures say a great deal about African-American history. Telling her tale with references to various elements of black folklore, Hamilton is faithful to traditional black scare stories and, if anything, she does too good a job. Still, it's Moser who brings these pictures horribly to life. Want to see an old crone (obviously European) remove her skin in one large horrible hunk? Or to view a black cat morphing into an evil woman, all long fingernails, teeth, and bloodshot eyes? This story is too young for older children, but younger ones with sturdy constitutions may adore it in it's own right. Or never want to open another book again out of fear. It could really swing either way here.

So when your child, aged five to nine years, pulls at your pantleg and asks you to get them a book at the library that's scary... REALLY scary... take them at their word. Pick out "Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny" from the bookshelves, cuddle up at night, and tell them this excellent tale. It will either be exactly what they're looking for or far far too much. In any case, it'll remain a memorable way to prove to them the full-blooded excitement of reading.

Not your typical slumber-party ghost story!
This odd little book is a wonderfully crafted story about Witch Wee Winnie, who sheds her skin to take a moonlight ride on the back of a Uncle Big Anthony, a big, burly black man who was transmogrified into a complacent horse. Though the story ends on a positive note, there are plenty of nail-biting parts that are macabre enough to impress even the most jaded young reader. The story is an action-packed and scary adventure that would make a great read-aloud in a classroom setting, as a study in African American folklore or story teller's perspective. Moser's woodcut illustrations are a perfect complement to the text; they manage to be high-contrast spooky and yet dark and shadowy, all at once.