Wizzil

By William Steig
Illustrated by Quentin Blake

Farrar Straus Giroux, 2000
$16.00 hardcover
32 pages

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What do you get when you put William Steig and Quentin Blake together? Wizzil!

Wizzil is a witch, as nasty as they come. Disguised as a fly she sets off to do mischief over at Frimp Farm. What Wizzil doesn't know is that old DeWitt Frimp hates flies, and he swats a mean left swatter. Now Wizzil is really angry and she plots a wicked revenge. Will DeWitt ever swat flies flies successfully again?

Wizzil may be wicked, but she is never scary. We recognize her immediately, for all her nastiness, and root for her. What child wouldn't? Here is an adult who is allowed -- expected, even -- to indulge herself with inventive, spiteful tricks and has the magical power to pull them off. We almost expect the Frimps, good by contrast and by default, to be the villains of the story. But old DeWitt catches our sympathy, too. There is a peculiarly endearing innocence in someone whose day can be made by finding a single glove.

But what a dilemma! Do we want Wizzil to win, or DeWitt? With a deft flourish, William Steig turns the story around and pulls off an amusingly happy ending -- just not the one you or Wizzil or anyone else expected.

You'll read Wizzil's story with a snicker and a smile. There are funny little clusters of alliteration -- "he traipsed back home with a happy harpy on his hand" -- and other clever twists of phrase perfect for reading aloud. Quentin Blake's scraggly, artistically sloppy drawings are hilarious; his rendering of DeWitt, especially, is both loopy and expressive and contributes much to the old guy's charm.

Wizzil is a delightful pairing of these two offbeat talents, a picture book to tickle the eye, the ear, and the funny bone.

Visit William Steig's web site at www.williamsteig.com

Reviewed by Wendy Morris. © 2000 by Wendy Morris.

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