Book:The Illustrated Wee Free Men

The Illustrated Wee Free Men

Co-author(s)
Illustrator(s)	Stephen Player
Publisher	Doubleday
Publication date	October 2008
ISBN	0385612540
Pages	244
RRP	£14.99
Main characters	Tiffany Aching Nac Mac Feegle Toad Miss Perspicacia Tick
Series	Tiffany Series
Annotations	View
Notes
All data relates to the first UK edition.

Publisher Comments: There's trouble on the Aching farm: monsters in the river, headless horsemen in the lane – and Tiffany Aching's little brother has been stolen by the Queen of the Fairies. Getting him back will require all of Tiffany's strength and determination (as well as a sturdy skillet) and the help of the rowdy clan of fightin', stealin' tiny blue-skinned pictsies known as the Wee Free Men.

Master storyteller and gifted comic Terry Pratchett is at his best in the adventures of Tiffany Aching and her tiny blue allies. Their first irresistible story comes to life in this lavishly illustrated edition, perfect for fans old and new.

Featuring full-colour art, special fold-outs, and all-new material by the author, this lavish gift edition is a must-have for all fans of Pratchett and the Wee Free Men. The illustration throughout is by Stephen Player.

The illustrations by Stephen Player are excellent, and do justice to Tiffany Aching, Jenny Green-Teeth, Grimhounds, Dromes, Granny Aching dressed as a china shepherdess, Granny Weatherwax, and numerous Feegles.

Release date in the UK: 11th September 2008.

Extra content

There are three pages of new material by Terry Pratchett in The Illustrated Wee Free Men.

A page from a diary in a week of Grune.
An advertisement for Hovering Grange, a school for witches.
A transcript of court proceedings.

Only the last of these amounts to a simple illustration of the story in The Wee Free Men. It details the circumstances in which the lawyer James Natter assumed toad form.

The advertisement for Hovering Grange is placed next to Tiffany's fantasising about a school for witches, triggered by something Miss Tick had said. It is in the kind of language that might be used by the Quirm College for Young Ladies. "At Hovering, we concentrate on educating the whole witch. Girls start at eight years old and usually stay until they are sixteen..." Perhaps a gentle dig at who knows what aspects of Roundworld.

The diary page is enigmatic. We know that later on Tiffany is a diarist. The entries could be in keeping with her duties when keeping company with Miss Treason in Wintersmith, or even later. The Notes record some ideas for a proposed 2nd edition of the Bestiary of Transient Monsters. The first kind, a "Grade 1 Prohibitory Monster", was mentioned by Miss Tick in connection with Jenny Green-Teeth, but these notes include a suggested new Grade 5. If this is Tiffany's diary, has she been branching out into Research Witch territory?