The Witch and the Dog

‘Manners maketh man’ may well be a saying infrequently quoted these days, but this picture book is subtitled ‘A Lesson in Manners’. Witch Daphne is renowned for transforming troublesome teens and making awful pets perfect. She takes on the task of teaching Harry, a scruffy mutt, some manners, threatening to turn him into a toad should he not mend his appalling ways. As the days progress and Harry’s misdemeanours mount up, a good manners rule appears in a different font at the foot of each page. Harry’s learning curve includes table manners, sportsmanship and learning to share, with that toad peeping out of illustrations to remind us all to maintain our good manners. The twist at the end is full of humour, with the characterful pictures matching this modern fable.