UK author Ursula Moray Williams (1911-2006) wrote 68 books for children throughout her lifetime. The two books that she is most well known for are Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse and Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat which is now celebrating it’s 80th anniversary having been first published in 1942 amid the chaos of WWll.
Gobbolino is the son of a very well-respected witch’s cat, and while his sister Sootica can’t wait to grow up to become a proper witch’s cat who can do spells to help their witch and be wondrously frightful herself, Gobbolino wants nothing more than to be a simple kitchen cat who catches mice and curls up by the fire after playing with the children of the house. Horrified by this revelation and the fact that Gobbolino has one white paw and his coat is not a pure jet black colour, both his mother and her witch abandon him.
Left to fend for himself, Gobbolino ends up on many adventures in order to find a family and home of his own. He ends up on a ship at sea, part of a traveling street show, a companion to a princess, and joins many more people across vast amounts of land all in the hopes of finding a place where he belongs. Will Gobbolino be able to finally have the simple kitchen cat life that he so desperately wants or is he destined to be a witch’s cat all his life?
This is a wonderfully written story that includes a few illustrations of Gobbolino throughout the book. It is a quick and easy read, packed full of different adventures each chapter that keeps the readers attention. After 80 years of publication Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat has kept its innate charm that guarantee’s future generations will still read of the witch’s cat who wished to be normal.
