Gobbolino the Witch's Cat

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It's an episodic shaggy-dog story, and every chapter follows the exact same plot. Gobbolino was born a witch's kitten, but he is nice and doesn't want to harm anyone, so he wants to be a kitchen cat. He will find some people to live with, and all goes well, until they discover he is a witch's cat and will chase him out and on to the next chapter where the exact same thing will happen with some new people. It is so monotonous, I could barely bring myself to read on, but I wanted to finish it since I knew I enjoyed it as a child. Gobbolino the Witch's Cat is a story about identity, difference, acceptance, belonging and tolerance. When Gobbolino's family refuse to accept his dream of becoming a kitchen cat, Gobbolino goes in search of a new home. He ventures from Hurricane Mountain to a busy farm, to a tower up high in a castle... he is even recruited by sailors and caught up in a dangerous, storm at sea. What's more, little Gobbolino comes face to face with a dragon! This resilient cat, going from one adventure to another, has a lot to teach children and adults alike. But poor little Gobbolino encounters all sorts of witches along the way. His battle with the sea witch is particularly exciting. The story may be 75 years old now, but the style shouldn't put off readers/listeners, the language is readable and moves along nicely. Gobbolino and his magic bring a quirkiness of their own to the story. I was glad to finally discover this one.

For early readers you can also buy editions with multiple stories, in fact there’s a set of ten books you can buy. Do be prepared for tears, Gobbolino gets into some terrible scrapes before he finally finds a mat he can call home. Of course I have left out the Harry Potter series from this roundup, which might be a little remiss, as Hermione is truly a great witch. However, I have an admission. We’ve seen all the films, but it’s only my husband who has read the books.A relative newcomer to the witch stories for kids genre, Witchworld is an absolute delight to read. Gobbolino is supposed to grow up to be a witch’s cat, just like his mother and like his sister, Sootica, wants to be. But Gobbolino is different from the rest of his family. He has blue eyes and one white paw and what he really wants is to be a kitchen cat and have people who love him. The story follows Gobbolino in his quest to find a home. We love a witch story in this family. So we’ve rounded up our seven favourite witch stories for kids. Each of these children’s witch story books is a brilliant read. Here’s a roundup of some of the story books with witches that we’ve read and loved over the last few years.

The story started on a dark and cloudy night, when Gobbolino found himself the odd one out amongst witch's kittens - he had one white paw, blue (not green) eyes, and a hint of tabby on his coat. His appearance disqualified him to be a witch's cat, also his heart was too kind to be one. He wanted to be good, not bad; he wanted to be a kitchen cat. After being rejected by the crowd he was born into, he embarked on a journey to find the home he would belong. Along the way, his magic and kindness brought happiness to many, yet his own happiness never really lasted. In 1984 Puffin published The Further Adventures of Gobbolino and the Little Wooden Horse, a joint sequel to Gobbolino and to Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse (1938). Ursula Moray Williams (1911-2006) began writing and illustrating books at the age of nine or ten, together with her twin sister. Over the course of a long career, she wrote more than sixty books for children, illustrating many of them herself. She was also a juvenile magistrate. Although his mother Grimalkin and sister Sootica are both witch's cats, Gobbolino longs to be a kitchen cat instead, to be loved rather than feared. Abandoned by his mother and her witch because his "abnormal" white paw and blue eyes makes him unsuitable as a witch's cat, Gobbolino sets off to find a loving home. In a series of adventures, our hero continually finds what appear to be ideal homes, only to be turned out again when his parentage is revealed, or the circumstances of his human companions change.The only downside is that there is a HUGE ‘just one more chapter’ thing going on, which can lead to lights out way later than planned!! It's set in a sort of fairy tale land, and Gobbolino can talk to people and do the dishes and so forth, so it's kind of irrelevant that he's even a cat. But at the end, when he loses his magic, he can no longer talk to people. Turns out this was because he was a witch's cat.... so how come all the people who met him didn't realise straight away what he was since normal cats can't talk to humans? Makes no sense. The clear print and simple but super fun stories make them fabulous early reading books for children who may find conventional reading schemes dull. We are currently booking tour dates for the opera in 2022. Please get in touch for details: [email protected]

It's a good choice for readers maybe just too young for Harry Potter but ready for magic. With lots of fairly short episodes, it will make a good bedtime series for several nights, and even lead to discussions about differing beliefs, about witches and treating others with kindness.

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A gentle story still making children – and cat lovers – smile over 75 years after its first publication. The books make for great stories to read out loud, but they are also great self-read books for ages seven and up. I didn’t discover The Witches as a child, so it was an extra delight to enjoy this story unfolding as I read it to my daughter.

Find out more | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia) 7. Witchworld, by Emma Fischel Meg and Mog is a series of children’s books written by Helen Nicolland illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski. There are ten books in the series, but why not start at the beginning with the original Meg and Mog book.Originally published in 1942, and newly reprinted by Kingfisher, this minor children's classic relates the story of Gobbolino, who, much like the hero of Williams's earlier title Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse, is a magical creature cast out into the world and searching for a home. We discovered this, the first book of a trilogy, a few months ago and now have the full trilogy on the book shelf. The witches are often feisty, go-getters who make strangely brilliant role models for girls, as well as loveable characters. I listened to the audiobook of this, and though I enjoyed this as a 'listen', I didn't like the voice of Gobbolino much, though it didn't come along too often.