Customer Reviews

Gobbolino the Witch's Cat (Kingfisher Classics)

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This book was read to my class in England, when I was 15 years old. I'm nearly 40 now, and this delightful story has stuck with me for 25 years, until I could read it to my own child. Gobbolino, is a misunderstood soul, a character that all children can asociate with! I now live in Canada, and have spent several years trying to track this book down. Not all stories can drive a mother to these length's, to pass them on to their children. Its a special book!

Reading Gobbolino to my 7 year old has opened up a whole field of fantasy to both of us. Although the language at times needed to be explaned to a seven year old, each chapter was eagerly anticipated. Even as a bed time story it was both suitable and highly original.

Read it (if you can)

Very enjoyable adventure from beginning to end of a witch's cat who wants to be a kitchen cat. Gobbolino's adventures on his way to becoming a kitchen cat. A wonderful story to read aloud to the children.

Gobbolino, a witch's feline endowed with unusual powers, is a charming little kitten who faces an identity crisis. Can he choose to be other than what he seems born to be, or does destiny mold him? Is compromise possible, or must he conform to others' expectations? Is appearance more important than reality?

One hardly expects most children's books written for this age level to grapple with such weighty issues, but Ursula Moray Williams's book does just that. Gobbolino cannot accept his destiny as a witch's familiar, and so he goes in search of a family that will accept him both for what he is and what he would like to be: A cat that leads an ordinary domestic life.

During his search for unconditional love and acceptance, Gobbolino meets primarily with bigotry and prejudice, although he encounters many kind characters, as well. Each chapter is a self-contained little adventure, which ends in a "cliff-hanging", suspenseful way in order to segue into the next chapter. Perhaps most poignant is the little tale of Gobbolino's adventures as he impersonates Toby the Dog in a traveling Punch-and-Judy show.

Perhaps the one flaw of the book is that it is difficult to see how anyone could fail to love this little fellow. Nevertheless, circumstances conspire to deprive Gobbolino of a happy home until the very end. SPOILER ALERT: Another flaw, I feel, is this very ending. His supernatural powers finally removed, Gobbolino finds himself reunited with the very family whose father wanted to drown him at the beginning of the book for being a witch's cat! Now that Gobbolino is shorn of his powers, however, he finds acceptance within that family.

I am not certain that this message of extreme conformity is what Williams intended. I prefer to believe that she simply failed to think through the unpleasant implications of Gobblino's contentment at fitting in with a family whose head wanted to destroy him merely for being what he was born to be, through no fault of his own.

Still, the charm of Gobbolino and the interest of his varied adventures, as well as the deep questions that the book raises and embodies, are more than enough to compensate for the equivocal ending. I heartily recommend this book to parents of children in the appropriate age range, as well as to adults who retain their own childlike sense of adventure and love of animals.

This is my daughter's favorite book. I bought it for her 2 years ago when she was 7 and every so often she'll pick it up and re-read it, or just choose one of her favorite chapters to read. She loves that fact that each chapter is a condensed little story on its own. I brought this book into her class to read a chapter during storytime and all of the children were equally enchanted by the story of the little witch's cat. Her teacher enjoyed it as well and appreciated some of the more interesting vocabulary. Excellent!

My dad read this book out loud to me at bedtime. Gobbolino wants to become a nice kitchen cat and his sister Sootica wants to be a mean and clever witch's cat. This book is exciting and I liked the ending. The story is always nice and nothing bad happens to Gobbolino, and if he gets hurt he always gets out of trouble. And he can blow sparks out of his whiskers (he does it to make the children laugh but it gets him in trouble with the grown ups).

This book was read to my class in England, when I was 15 years old. I'm nearly 40 now, and this delightful story has stuck with me for 25 years, until I could read it to my own child. Gobbolino, is a misunderstood soul, a character that all children can asociate with! I now live in Canada, and have spent several years trying to track this book down. Not all stories can drive a mother to these length's, to pass them on to their children. Its a special book!

Like the previous reviewer, Deb Mumby, I was also read this as a child growing up in England. The story has stuck with me for years. It was read to me when I was very young and again when I was older. It is a story that reflects the heart of all of us... we want to belong. We have dreams for our future....we know what we want to be when we grow up...

This story is now being read to another generation of little boys and girls... mine. They love the story as I read it slowly and gently with my best variety of English voices for each character.

I recommend it to all children, big like me and small like them.

Claire Guthrie
English Born and Bred:)
Mom of 5.