What was Dorrie - the little witch with mismatched socks, crooked hat, and a penchant for getting into trouble - up to in this sixteenth installment of Patricia Coombs' twenty-book series chronicling her magical adventures? Had she finally been driven to drink, as the result of her endless run-ins with magical practitioners far older than herself? Ha! Of course not! Assisting her mother, the Big Witch, at their potions booth at the Witchville Fair, Dorrie noticed the odd behavior of a grouchy witch named Old Irontoes, who seemed to be stalking her. But although she informed the Big Witch of her suspicions, they (predictably) went unheeded, putting Dorrie, yet again, in the position of having to rescue the residents of Witchville, when they were all transformed into pigs...

Dorrie and the Witchville Fair is another fabulous entry in this wonderful series - one of the treasured memories of my reading childhood - with many of the plot elements I have come to think of as "standard" Dorrie fare. From the Big Witch's general obliviousness, which invariably sets up a situation in which Dorrie must rely on herself, to the malicious magic-worker who is defeated by our pint-size heroine, this story felt both familiar and enchanting, although I have no distinct memory of reading it, as a girl. ( )