I vividly remember my mum reading Gobbolino - The Witch's Cat to my sister and me when we were little.
We wept and wept at Gobbolino's traumas but at the end of every chapter insisted mum keep reading.
We read Gobbolino this week and - despite all Gobbolino's troubles - it was just as enchanting as I remembered.
In case you didn't read it as a child, Gobbolino and his sister Sootica are born in a witch's cavern but whilst Sootica is black all over, Gobbolino has one white paw, beautiful blue eyes and a suspiciously tabby coat.
Sootica is apprenticed to a witch but not a single witch will even consider taking Gobbolino who is then deserted by his mother and her mistress.
Poor little Gobbolino really doesn't want to be a witch's cat and sets off in search of a friendly fire and a mat.
Chapter after chapter Gobbolino comes within a paw's grasp of a happy home only for it to be snatched from him - right until the end that it is, when he finally escapes the burden of a being a witch's cat.
In case you didn't read it as a child, Gobbolino and his sister Sootica are born in a witch's cavern but whilst Sootica is black all over, Gobbolino has one white paw, beautiful blue eyes and a suspiciously tabby coat.
Sootica is apprenticed to a witch but not a single witch will even consider taking Gobbolino who is then deserted by his mother and her mistress.
Poor little Gobbolino really doesn't want to be a witch's cat and sets off in search of a friendly fire and a mat.
Chapter after chapter Gobbolino comes within a paw's grasp of a happy home only for it to be snatched from him - right until the end that it is, when he finally escapes the burden of a being a witch's cat.
I can't recommend it enough as an early chapter book. You can easily race through 2 or 3 chapters a night or on sleepy evenings be just as satisfied by a single chapter of Gobbolino's adventures as the author Ursula Moray Williams packs into every chapter a discrete adventure full of exciting new characters - including hobgoblins, sea witches, a princess, a sad knight and a Punch & Judy show - whilst expertly progressing the overall story arc and developing Gobbolino's character as he constantly rescues others from their troubles.
First published in 1943, Gobbolino was an immediate best seller that found great popularity again after republication in the 1960s. At her best in Gobbolino, and her other great classic Little Wooden Horse, Ursula Moray Williams is a brilliantly taut writer who broadens children's vocabulary without for a single second losing their interest.
And if you've enjoyed Gobbolino and are looking for other early chapter books about witches you might also enjoy Lizzie Dripping by Helen Cresswell and The Worst Witch
series by Jilly Murphy.(For UK editions try Gobbolino
Little Wooden Horse Lizzie Dripping The Worst Witch).
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