Official Author Site
Here I’m posting photos of the new September 2014 reissues The Witch at the Window and The Would-Be Witch, two great witch books for Halloween!
Paperbacks (ISBNS 9780449815663 and 9780449815700):
Hardcovers:
The Witch at the Window (ISBN 9780449815632):
The Would-Be Witch (ISBN 9780449815670):
The cover art for the two books to be released in September is here!
Two years ago I bought this book for a dollar at a library fundraiser, but I’m only just now adding it officially to the collection. It’s the oldest copy of Shark Lady in the collection and has the nicest cover, so I’ve not only updated the database to include this new old book, I’ve updated the Shark Lady page and the book covers page so that this is the book cover scan that’s featured, rather than the scan where a price sticker blocks the “y” in lady, making it seem as though the book is about “Shark Lad”!
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The release date for the next two Ruth Chew re-releases has changed from August 26, 2014 to September 23, 2014. No book cover images have yet been added to Amazon or the Random House website. I’m looking forward to seeing what the new books will look like! Of course, you can already pre-order them.
Preorder The Would-Be Witch Preorder The Witch at the Window Note that Three Shrinking Tales seems to have been pushed to April 28, 2015. |
Here is some data I’ve collected on the reading level of Ruth Chew’s books. The data comes from what is printed on some of the copies in the collection and from old reviews published in industry journals.
It seems the books are generally considered to be suitable for second graders (seven-year-olds) and up, though of course every child is different.
| Baked Beans for Breakfast | ??? |
| Do-It-Yourself Magic | Grades 2-5. Ages 7-10. |
| Earthstar Magic | Grades 3-6. |
| Last Chance for Magic | Grade 3. Ages 7-10. |
| Magic in the Park | Sprache Readibility Formula: Readibility Level Grade 2.1. Ages 7-10. |
| Magic of the Black Mirror | Grade 2. Ages 7-10. |
| Mostly Magic | Grades 3-5. Grade Level Equivalent: 5.1. |
| No Such Thing as a Witch | Sprache Readibility Formula: Readibility Level Grade 2.2. Grades 2-5. Ages 7-10. |
| Royal Magic | Grade 3. Ages 7-10. |
| Second Hand Magic | Grades 2-4. Ages 7-10. |
| Summer Magic | Grade 2. Ages 7-10. |
| The Enchanted Book | Grades 3-5. Grade Level Equivalent: 5.3. Ages 7-10. |
| The Hidden Cave | Grades 3-5. |
| The Magic Coin | Grades 3-5. |
| The Secret Tree-House | ??? |
| The Trouble with Magic | Sprache Readibility Formula: Readibility Level Grade 2.2. Grades 3-5. Ages 7-10. |
| The Wednesday Witch | Reading Level: Grade 2. Ages 7-10. |
| The Wishing Tree | ??? |
| The Witch and the Ring | Grade 2. Ages 7-10. |
| The Witch at the Window | Sprache Readibility Formula: Readibility Level Grade 2.2. Ages 7-10. |
| The Witch’s Buttons | Grades 2-4. |
| The Witch’s Garden | Grades 3-5. |
| The Would-Be Witch | Grades 2-4. Ages 7-10. |
| Trapped in Time | Sprache Readibility Formula: Readibility Level Grade 2.2. Ages 7-10. |
| What the Witch Left | Grade 3. Ages 7-10. |
| Witch in the House | Grades 3-6. Ages 7-10. |
| Witch’s Broom | Ages 8-10. |
| Witch’s Cat | Grade 3. Ages 7-10. |
| Wrong Way Around Magic | Grade 3. Ages 7-10. |
| Shark Lady | Ages 7-10. Grades 3-5. Grade Level Equivalent: 3.5. |
| The Mystery of the Ghost Bell | ??? |
| The Questers | Ages 9 and up; Grades 4 and up. |
| Three Cheers for Polly | ??? |
Mail is fun. International mail is even more fun. I just received the Spanish-language translations of three Ruth Chew books that I bought online, all from the same seller. They’re in good shape, so I’m pleased with the 25 Euros I spent to get them.
I read a bit of El problema de la magic and noticed that the room fragrance spray that the sister and brother buy is called “espray”. Spanish borrowed the English word “spray”, but Spanish-speakers are unable to pronounce the consonant cluster “sp” at the front of the word, so the borrowed word became “espray”!
Did you know that book publishers operate on a two-season year? Publishers organize their product line into two batches, a fall/winter batch and a spring/summer batch. At least, that was my experience working for Princeton University Press, and Random House seems to be doing the same.
The books are written, contracted, prepared, and manufactured all year, of course, but the sales and marketing people focus on a discrete number of new books grouped together by season.
Traditionally, it seems there were three publishing seasons (spring, fall and winter). Times are changing, though, and some now argue that having seasons at all doesn’t make any sense.
I don’t know what they will look like yet, but next season’s Ruth Chew titles will be The Witch at the Window, The Would-Be Witch, and Three Shrinking Tales (Do-It-Yourself Magic, Earthstar Magic, and Mostly Magic).
These titles are being released August 26, 2014.
Paperbacks:
Hardcovers:
Hardcover edition of Magic in the Park:
Hardcover edition of The Trouble with Magic:
Library editions:
The book profiles for the following Ruth Chew novels now have summaries as well as listings for characters, places and themes. Enjoy!
Once in a while I go poking around the internet trying to fill in the gaps in my knowledge about all the editions of Ruth Chew’s books.
Sometimes it pays off, because the internet gets bigger all the time.
Today I found THREE books for sale on a Spanish site called TodoColeccion. I’ve never seen them in person OR online before. I think I’ve managed to order them.
I also found a better image of No hay nada como una bruja on a Mexican site that appears to be similar in function to craigslist. Since I don’t live in Mexico and thus can’t meet up with the seller in person, I’m doubtful I’ll get to buy that one.
In pursuit of an elusive “Lectorum Publications” Spanish edition, I discovered what I think is a price arbitrage seller on the Amazon Marketplace. The reply to my request for more information about the book for sale was immediate and completely unhelpful, I assume because the seller doesn’t actually have the book… I think if I bought from quality7, the seller would go and buy a copy elsewhere to sell to me (at a huge profit). I guess this sort of thing accounts for those crazy prices you see on Amazon marketplace sometimes…
