Gobbolino the Witch's Cat

Product Information

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).

The witches are often feisty, go-getters who make strangely brilliant role models for girls, as well as loveable characters. But poor little Gobbolino encounters all sorts of witches along the way. His battle with the sea witch is particularly exciting. There’s a whole series of Winnie books with nice big colourful illustrations which make them great for reading to two to five year olds.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. We discovered this, the first book of a trilogy, a few months ago and now have the full trilogy on the book shelf.

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. 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. Into Opera is transforming this well-known children’s book, Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams, into an opera for family audiences. The opera will include an 8-person professional cast and 10-piece chamber orchestra. We are offering hundreds of primary school children the opportunity to participate in developing this brand new opera and to gain a unique insight into the often ‘closed’ process of how an opera is actually created. We aim to offer children a truly immersive introduction to opera, which enables them to explore, challenge, and creatively participate in all elements of what this art form can offer. Children have already started working with:They are also super delightful for parents to read to their children at bedtime or other read out loud moments. Meg and Mog is a series of children’s books written by Helen Nicolland illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.