Nice starter book for someone interested in learning about witchcraft. The spells are very accessible. The timeline of witchcraft in Europe was informative.

This is the perfect book for absolute beginner's and even more, intermediate practicer's because of the wide variety of information that is helpful for a brush up for anyone.

A subject that has fascinated me from as early as I can remember. It's history as well as educational and I absolutely loved it. It's got a permanent home in my favorites folder!!

The Little Book of Witchcraft is a great book mainly for beginners who want to know a little about magic. The book features a short history of witchcraft, tools of the trade so to speak, and walks you through how to do a few simple spells as practice. There are also parts of the books about colors, candles, and crystals.



The book is using white witchcraft, there are no dark spells or information on Dark magic. Even though the book explains tools all you really need to work these spells is basically your mind and concentration. If you have any interest in magic and witchcraft this is a must read.



I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

An intentionally simple and straightforward primer focused on sharing the basics of white witchcraft.

While I was really excited to read this book, I just didn't learn anything new from it - and I'm not an avid practicioner of white witchcraft. In places I found it try and overly drawn out (ie: history) while in others, I wanted more information pertaining to white witchcraft specifically (crystals, incense, etc). Much of what I did read here, I could easily find on the internet or otherwise have read in more comprehensive primers.

While I realize this is a "little" book, and truly intended for those not at all familiar with white witchcraft, this fell flat for me. I can't see myself having it as a reference piece.

Note: I did receive a review copy through NetGalley prior to release, and there were a few mistakes and color bleed issues with the electronic copy I had access to. This may have changed with publication.

A huge thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me early access to read and review this book.

The Little Book of Witchcraft is an informative book that contains useful information about witchcraft such as history, tools, and symbols. I'm quite fascinated by how white witchcraft was done thus this book is a big help for me. It is a 155 pages book filled with what one needs to about casting spells and rituals, and even devising your own spells.

I also like how the power of crystals was mentioned and some common ones were also listed such as the Amethyst for insomnia or tranquility; the clear quartz; rose quartz for love; and tiger's eye for seeking employment. The timing for casting the spells was also cited and a brief information about chakras was also tackled in the practical magic part.

If you are interested in what is Wicca or New Age, this book may be a bit short but it is a good introduction and foundation to broader research about it.

Maybe it works as a beginners guide, because while I haven't been around too much on the topic a lot of it had a been there done that, I saw this in another book feel to it.

This is an overall amazing book for beginners and I would even go as far as to say it's also great for people who have been practising witchcraft for longer! It's full of great references, it has a little bit of everything, well explained and in an easy to digest way. Cute and useful!
In my opinion, this would be a good book for someone who wants to dip their toes into white witchcraft and see if they like it!

This was a pretty blind try, and sadly I wish I had done a bit more research about the book. I didn't get very far in this book until I had to give up. It sounded really interesting, I have always been fascinated by the topic of witches/magic. So I was hoping this book would turn out to be interesting, fun, but instead it was just lots of text and not much kept my attention.

I did like the font and the cover (and also the illustrations I saw in the book). But that is not enough to keep me reading.

This small and readable book is a positive introduction for those who, like me, know nothing about witchcraft, focusing on small and approachable rituals for guiding more positive energy into your life. This lovely little guide to white witchcraft is thoughtfully laid out, beautiful to look at, and well-organized for a beginner. The book walks the reader through a very brief history of witchcraft, and then launches you into spellcrafting. The entire guide has a very positive feel, and strongly cautions aspiring witches against casting negative spells, because the negativity will come back to you tenfold. I loved the hand lettered quotes between sections, the beautiful flourishes and art, and the parallels drawn between witchcraft and meditation, positive thinking, and empowerment.

Loved the typesetting. It’s a visually beautiful book. Not content heavy, and a joy to browse. Some good ideas for spell casting as well.

A good reference introductory book on witchcraft. It's nice to see and read with some good advice.
Recommended for those who are starting with the Craft or want to refresh some notions.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing

The Little Book of Witchcraft is a well written, easy to read, book for those interested in starting their journey into witchcraft. I enjoyed the concise explanation given about witchcraft, the use of crystals and the tools of the craft. It was written in a form that is designed to appeal to the young modern person interested in learning about the craft. I found the information given on the history of witchcraft informative but by no means complete. There is a lot of good information in this book. I like that it touched on modern uses of magic. I would have liked to see more information about the use of magic with modern technology and social media. The continued mixing of Wicca and witchcraft through the book could be confusing to a beginner as they are not the same. They can go hand in hand but that is not made clear in this book.
Otherwise, it is a well-written book. I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to anyone interested in getting to know about witchcraft.

This is a clear and simple overview of what it means to be a witch.
It is not overly complicated but it is informational and educational.
I read an electronic version via Netgalley but this is the sort of book I prefer to enjoy in a print version.
It has clean lines and simple to follow instructions. It covers a variety of topics, laid out in a nice order.

I know little to nothing about witchcraft and picked this up just for a fun read. The Little Book of Witchcraft is informative and contains a lot of history and interesting facts (moon phases, crystals, incense, etc.) which was cool. I found that the author tended to mix witchcraft and Wicca together which from what I've seen from other review are two different things that can be related by aren't necessarily always combined. Either way it was informative and well written.

The Little Book of Witchcraft by Astrid Carvel is a cute companion guide for the modern day witch. I say cute because it was written in a very easy to understand way, so it was in no means intimidating or complex. There were little skecthes throughout that made it seem like a notebook or grimoire, which was a nice touch. I appreciated the concise explanations of witchcraft, wicca, and white magic and the descriptions of altars, wands, crystals, etc. My only complaint is that there seemed to be an emphasis on the “modern day witch,” however, there was nothing uniquely modern about this since witches have been using things such as the four elements, candles, and salt for centuries. I wish there were more chapters devoted to actual modern day witchcraft which was only touched on, such as the use of social media, tech devices, and so forth. If the book contained more chapters pertaining to witchcraft in the twenty-first century, then this would be a stand out book. I do feel that the spells had a nice modern flair and seemed easy to perform, but the book needed more updated content. I also found the red and blue pages unreadable. There was not enough contrast between the font and coloured pages. I would recommend The Little Book of Witchcraft for those who are brand new to witchery as this book will help you ease into the craft. I would not recommend this book for those witches out there who are already well versed in witchcraft. Overall a cutesy read but lacking in the “modern” department.

This was a fun little book! Part history, part how-to. It's pretty basic, so it's a great place for beginners to start!

"Practicing magic is akin to mindfulness, making affirmations, and other forms of positive thinking and meditation, as it focuses the mind into experiencing the moment and reaching mentally for your goals, just with a few extra props, such as crystals, colored candles, and sometimes and altar or wand."

First Impressions
I was cruising through the "Read Now" section of NetGalley when the cover popped out to me. I really liked the color choices and cutesy graphics. Then I saw it was about witchcraft and I was torn. To read it or not to read it? That was my dilemma.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a witch and practicing witchcraft and I find it to be a fascinating topic. However, there are a lot of people in my life that would disagree, scream devil worshipers, and run for the hills.

I've looked into various forms of witchcraft for a long time now for the sake of knowledge and to be able to better understand the other books with witchy characters because much of the lore and stuff seems to be the same book to book. I cannot be the only one that has noticed that, right? After reading the about blurb, it sounded like a good introductory book on witchcraft.

While Reading
I was a little concerned about reading a book like this on the Kindle. It sounded like the style of a book where you need to have a physical copy in front of you. I'm glad it turned out to be a PDF that I could read on the computer. I was able to see all the colors and graphics of how the book would look in print form and made it much more enjoyable to read.

I loved the small section on gemstones and crystals, being a geologist at heart and all.

"Witchcraft is a spiritual path. You walk it for nourishment of the soul, to commune with the life force of the universe, and to thereby better know your own life.

-  Christopher Penczak"

I also really enjoyed the section on the various herbs since I am a looking more into herbalism and all the benefits herbs and nature can bring us. 

Final Thoughts
I enjoyed the book. It was a quick and easy read. Though it did have a lot of information that is readily available on the internet so it is a book for true beginners.

I found this book on NetGalley and thought I would take a look. It’s a quick read and definitely focused toward beginners but there are better books out there that focus on just witchcraft. This book has a problem with staying in line defining witchcraft and jumps over to the Wiccan focus. To be a witch you do not have to be a Wiccan. Wicca is a religion. Witchcraft is a practice. The author needs to stay away from interchanging the two.
I also found that this book focused on a lot of spell work. There is much more to practicing witchcraft then spells. As well, the definitions of some of the terms are questionable/debatable.

If you are a beginner to witchcraft please do not take this book as the only answer to your questions. Read lots. There are better books out there.

Additional comment on the choice of colour background on some pages. The white letters against the red/blue background are very hard to read. You want the words to stand out, not the colour.