Witchward Bound

Praise for Witchward Bound: A Butter and Owl Adventure by Erin Bow

“With cozy charm and humor, heroic quests in a magical world, and deep insights on friendship and acceptance, discovering Butter and Owl’s adventures feels like stepping into Narnia for the first time. What a gift!” — Wendy Mass, New York Times best-selling author of The Candy Makers and coauthor of The Lost Library

“I’d bet my house that Witchward Bound has a heroic destiny of its own, certain to join the pantheon of books beloved by both children and adults along with Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and The Wind and the Willows. In this tale of Butter the cat (weighty in more ways than one) and Owl the raven (flighty in more ways than one) who undertake an odd-couple odyssey to find their missing witch, Erin Bow weaves pure magic. Told with heart, humor, and sparkling worldplay, this is a story to share over and over.” — Jan Flynn, author of Griffin Speaker

“Bow displays a knack for giving her characters a winning mix of animal and human qualities; her prose is elegant and inviting, her plotting superb.” — Kirkus, starred review

“Wry language and tongue-in-cheek humor relay an energetic escapade elevated by whimsical illustrations with a Garth Williams vibe.” — Publishers Weekly

“Threading the narrative with clever asides and inventive mythological references…A deliciously playful tale best described as creative homage to The Odyssey, or perhaps even as Homeric fan fiction.” — Kirkus

Praise for Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow

A Newbery Honor Book
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book
An Audie Award Finalist
Winner of the 2023 CYBILS Award for Middle Grade Fiction
Winner of the 2024–2025 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
An Indie Next Selection
A National Education Association’s Read Across America Recommendation
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2023
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2023
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2023
A Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2023
A Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book
A Chicago Public Library Kids Best of the Best Book
A Bank Street College 2024 Best Book of the Year (with a star for outstanding merit)
A 2023–2024 Project LIT Book Club Pick
An Amazon Editors’ Pick January 2023

“Funny, poignant and—most important—hopeful.” —The New York Times

“A remarkable achievement.” —Ali Benjamin, New York Times best-selling and National Book Award–nominated author of The Thing About Jellyfish

“Fast-paced and full of quirky characters, Simon Sort of Says presents a tragedy stitched up with humor, sensitivity, and rare humanity.” —Jack Gantos, Newbery Award–winning author of Dead End in Norvelt

“This book is as close to everything as one book can be.” —Kyle Lukoff, Newbery Honor–winning, Stonewall Award–winning, and National Book Award–nominated author of Too Bright to See

★ “Adroit, sensitive, horrifying, yet hilarious.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “Compassionate and refreshingly hopeful.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ “Bow’s storytelling brims with vitality.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review

“A near-perfect novel.” —Shelf Awareness

“[Masterful] … funny and heartfelt in equal measure.” —School Library Journal

“Heartwarming, heartbreaking and, it must be said, hilarious.” —National Catholic Reporter

Erin Bow grew up wanting to be an astronomer and trained as a particle physicist, but took a left turn into writing poetry and children’s fiction. Her books, which include Simon Sort of Says, Stand on the Sky, Plain Kate, Sorrow’s Knot, and the science fiction duology The Scorpion Rules and The Swan Riders, have won a fistful of awards, including a Newbery Honor. Born in Iowa and raised in Nebraska, Erin now writes in a shed in her messy but beloved garden in Ontario, Canada.

Kelly Murphy is a New York Times best-selling author-illustrator and recipient of the E.B. White Award. Her 50+ books have been translated into 16 languages and have been featured on “best books of the year” lists by Publishers Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, Kirkus, and The New York Times. Kelly currently teaches illustration at her alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design, and lives in her native New England. Like Butter and Owl, she hopes to one day sail underneath a bright aurora sky.

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