The witch's vacuum cleaner (and other stories) (by Terry Pratchett)

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I have very much enjoyed the late Terry Pratchett’s writing since I first came across the children’s trilogy ‘Truckers’, ‘Diggers’ and ‘Wings’ back in the mid 1990s. I have acquired many of his books over the years, and am currently in the middle of gradually re-reading the lengthy ‘Discworld’ series.

But it’s only recently that I realised that Terry Pratchett also wrote a lot of short stories for children, many of which have been collected in books. I understand that they represent some of his earliest writing and that many of them were published in magazines before he became well-known.

So when my eight-year-old grandson chose ‘The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner (and other stories)’ from the library, I was quick to volunteer to read them aloud to him. And the first story, which involved a magician suddenly discovering that he could do magic rather than tricking his audience, was all we could have hoped for. My grandson was laughing and I was chuckling as the story progressed. The ending was perhaps a tad strange for a children’s book but it didn’t matter. We liked it very much.

However we weren’t quite so impressed by the next stories, which I read one at a time over the next few days. Several of them involve an imaginary town in the ‘Wild West’ of Wales, where sheepboys take part in rodeos, and there’s a spate of sheep rustling. While I liked some of the ironic references, some of the stories themselves lack any real plot or resolution. That doesn’t matter with just one or two, but we found they rather dragged in places.

That was true, too, of other stories: of a man who goes back in time due to a faulty television, and another who is taken up in a balloon and travels widely. The characters are likeable and some of the situations are mildly amusing. And, as with all Pratchett, they were quite satisfying to read aloud. His use of language is always excellent, and we could imagine some of the bizarre scenes quite well. But there isn’t much plot; instead they recount incidents, and then stop. Our least favourite involved an ant and a bee who decide to rebel and leave their colonies. Nice idea, but it didn’t really go anywhere.

However we did very much enjoy the final story, which involves some very small gnomes living, unseen, in a large store. In many respects this is clearly the precursor of the wonderful ‘Truckers’ trilogy. I’m glad Pratchett did start out with short stories, which are certainly different from most, and which gave him the opportunity to expand on some of his unusually creative ideas and imaginings without having to plan an entire novel.

Perhaps they shouldn’t have been collected and published; they really aren’t as good as the more polished, longer books, and I suspect he wouldn’t have wanted his early works read by the world. On the other hand, they do give a good introduction to the author for young children who aren’t yet ready for the Discworld books. And with the short story format they make good bedtime reading aloud, or could be read by children of around eight or nine and upwards who prefer reading to themselves.

Recommended in a low key way to children of about seven and up who appreciate bizarre short stories and don’t mind too much about plots - or for diehard fans of the late Sir Terry who will appreciate having more of his writing on their shelves.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's Book Reviews