A merry guide to more than 100 witching words.

When he was a little boy, Gregoire Solotareff was very fond of his mother reading stories from her native Russia about the famous Slavic witch, Baba Yaga (old woman), spooker of children across Eastern Europe for many centuries.

After the success of his Loulou the wolf series of books, Solotareff decided to turn his efforts to a more personal topic – portraying the mythical Baba Yaga witches as real people with defects, secrets and all that make us laugh at our silly fears.

Dictionary of Witches looks at all we think we know about witches and a lot that we don’t. Why are crows witches’ accomplices? What color is a witch’s hair? What are witches’ husbands called? And their babies? Where do they go to the toilet? Do witches get airsick on their brooms? How can you recognize a witch in disguise? And the scariest, why do children like witches when they want to kidnap them and eat them?

There’s even a recipe for Christmas Dinner (feeds eight witches):

Take a handful of medium-sized snakes (you can easily catch them in winter). Stuff the snakes with six crushed toads (the snakes will put up a bit of a fuss). Put in the oven at 220 degrees. Cook for one hour, holding your nose. Cool slightly (while still holding your nose).

Everything there is to know about witches – more than a hundred facts – are here. Amusing, never truly scary and featuring stunning saturated illustrations, Dictionary of Witches is a unique stroll through the not-so-dark forest home of witches.