We're already getting all excited about Halloween.
We even had a pumpkin growing in the garden in readiness until mummy knocked it off it's stem whilst trying to fend off a small army of snails & slugs. Bad mummy!
If you've not managed to grow pumpkins, you can't beat books about witches to get everyone in the Halloween spirit and these are my suggestions for wonderful witch books for children from 2 to 10 ...
And if you're looking for more Halloween inspiration check out all the wonderful ideas from the Mommy Archive at the bottom of this post ... and feel free to add your own ...
Meg & Mog - Helen Nicoll
Completely crazy but Meg, her cat Mog and long suffering owl are loved from 2 upwards. Meg's spells never quite work but that just makes for more zany fun as they encounter everything from cave men & dinosaurs to Egyptian mummies.
The clear print & simple but super fun stories make them fabulous early reading books for children who may find conventional reading schemes dull.
Gobbolino the Witch's Cat - Ursula Moray Williams
OK strictly speaking about a witch's cat rather than a witch but poor little Gobbolino encounters all sorts of witches along the way ... his battle with the sea witch is particularly exciting.
This is a wonderful first chapter book as each chapter tells a separate instalment in Gobbolino's journey but ends with a cliff hanger that keeps you wanting more.
I adored this as a year child and my 3 year old loves it ... but be prepared for tears. Gobbolino gets into some terrible scrapes before he finally finds a fire and a mat he can call home.
The Witches - Roald Dahl
One of the great joys of parenthood has to be re-reading Roald Dahl and discovering some like Witches which were a bit after my time. The only downside is that we end up having ridiculously late nights as we read just one more chapter.
Like most Roald Dahl, The Witches is full of black humour and not for the feint hearted but it is so, so, so much fun!
It may be a bit scary at times but like all Roald Dahl it's a great read for under fives who are just starting on chapter and "big" books as long as you give your story telling skills full rein and skim just a tiny bit.
Winnie the Witch - Valerie Thomas
Uh oh!!!
Winnie like Meg is a witch whose spells & bright ideas never go quite right and poor Wilbur her cat is too often on the receiving end of the resulting disasters.
There's a whole series of Winnie books with nice big colourful illustrations which make them great for 2 to 5 year olds.
The Worst Witch - Jilly Murphy
Mildred is yet another witch who is a bit rubbish at spells. In fact she's so bad at them, that she's the worst witch at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches. But somehow in the end everything always ends up OK.
Jilly Murphy is brilliant at telling good stories in very simple language, which make these fun early chapter books for 4 and 5 year olds and a first "real" for older children to read.
Lizzie Dripping - Helen Cresswell
Lizzie lives in a little village in northern England close to where I grew up. She's a day dreamer and story teller who constantly suffers the sharp end of her mother's and her dreaded Auntie Blodwen's tongues.
But life looks up and her adventures start when she meets a fabulously crazy witch in the village churchyard.
Lovely books for 6 to 9 year olds to read to themselves.
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
OK I know this isn't strictly speaking about a Halloween style witch but it is just soooo good!
And it is so brilliantly written that you can read it to any child who has started listening to chapter books. It's a thrilling adventure with a cliff hanger at the end of each chapter but at a deeper level encourages children to think about how brave you might have to be, to be good.
The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald
And this added extra is not strictly speaking about witches at all but it is a wonderfully scary fairy story that is one of the big classics in children's literature and inspired everyone from Tolkien and C.S. Lewis to JK Rowling.
It will have everyone hiding under the duvets but you won't be able to put it down.
Probably best from about 7 or 8 but might work with a very voracious younger story listener.
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