Peek inside a Ruth Chew ebook (The Witch’s Buttons)

All the newly printed Ruth Chew books are available as ebooks, and there are, so far, two three-book omnibus collections available, too. See a complete listing of the new books and e-books.

But what are the ebooks really like?

Many of us nostalgic book-readers are suspicious of these new-fangled e-readers, so we don’t really know much about them. Paper books are awesome enough, are they not?

But did you know that you can read Amazon’s Kindle books on a free ap without buying a Kindle? They’ll even let you download samples of Ruth Chew’s books while considering an e-book purchase. I know, because that’s what I finally did!

Below are screenshots from the Kindle ap running on my desktop computer of the cover and some of the interior pages of the Kindle ebook of The Witch’s Buttons, showing how well the illustrations reproduce and how you can change the font size. Enjoy!

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New copies of The Witch at the Window and The Would-Be Witch

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):
ruth-chew-paperbacks-sep-2014-front ruth-chew-paperbacks-sep-2014-back

Hardcovers:
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The Witch at the Window (ISBN 9780449815632):
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The Would-Be Witch (ISBN 9780449815670):
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New Covers for September Books

The cover art for the two books to be released in September is here!

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New old copy of Shark Lady

TX-3810-smallTwo 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”!

New books to be released in September, not August

no_image_available_random_house 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
at Amazon
at Barnes and Noble
at Book Depository
find it via Indiebound

Preorder The Witch at the Window
at Amazon
at Barnes and Noble
at Book Depository
find it via Indiebound

Note that Three Shrinking Tales seems to have been pushed to April 28, 2015.

Readibility Scores

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 ???

Books arrive from Spain

books-from-spainMail 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”!

Coming in August

RH-no-image-availableDid 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.

January 2014 books have arrived

Paperbacks:
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Hardcovers:
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Hardcover edition of Magic in the Park:
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Hardcover edition of The Trouble with Magic:
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Library editions:
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Improved book profiles

4-improvedThe book profiles for the following Ruth Chew novels now have summaries as well as listings for characters, places and themes. Enjoy!

The Trouble with Magic 

Witch’s Cat

The Witch’s Garden

The Magic Coin