Dorrie's Magic

Dorrie the Little Witch #1

by Patricia Coombs

Dorrie was looking for a magic recipe to clean up her room.... "Abracadabra, skittery doo!" she said, pouring some blue stuff into a bowl. "Stop it!" cried Cook. "Stop it, right now!" "Stop what? What's the matter?" asked Dorrie. Cook stamped her foot and waved a spoon in the air. "Three white ducks are the matter! There are three white ducks swimming around in my soup kettle!" But Cook cried out too late. Dorrie had started the magic working and although everything was going wrong, she couldn't make it stop. Maybe if she poured a little more of everything into the magic brew...

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Witches, Fantasy, Magic, Classics, Halloween

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Patricia Coombs was born on July 23, 1926 in Los Angeles, California and during her school age years lived in Hawaii, Boston, New York, and San Francisco. She was always reading books and would hide in unusual places to avoid getting caught reading instead of playing. She attended DePauw University, Michigan State University, and received her bachelor's and master's degrees in English from the University of Washington. She also studied poetry at New York University.

In 1962, Coombs wrote and illustrated Dorrie's Magic, inspired by her two daughters and their Siamese cat named Dingbat. The book was highly praised by the New York Times Book Review, and Coombs went on to create the "Dorrie the Little Witch" series. She wrote 20 stories about Dorrie and her adventures as a little witch over the next 30 years, ending with Dorrie and the Haunted Schoolhouse in 1992.

Coombs has also illustrated for other authors and contributed to Poetry Magazine.

From: Major Authors and Illustrators, pp. 562-564, courtesy of The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at The University of Southern Mississippi and Wikipedia.org

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the treasured artefacts of my childhood, Patricia Coombs' series about Dorrie - a little witch whose hat was always on crooked, whose socks were always mismatched, and whose penchant for trouble never failed to produce an adventure - kept me continuously entertained. I must have checked out some of these Dorrie books from the library a hundred times! I recall particularly enjoying Dorrie and the Blue Witch , although every entry in the series was superb. Imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered, these many years later, that Coombs had authored twenty Dorrie books, some of them - like this first installment - completely unknown to me!

When her mother, the Big Witch, goes into town one Saturday to do some shopping, she asks Dorrie to be good, and to clean her room. Of course everything is more fun when you use magic, and Dorrie - accompanied by her faithful cat Gink - decides to use the Big Witch's colorful powders to accomplish her task. Her haphazard potion-making produces the inevitable mishaps - from turning the entire house blue, to changing Cook into a horse - and Dorrie learns that some things (like cleaning) require work, not magic...

A charming beginning to a magical series, Dorrie's Magic offers a fantastic variant of a story many young readers will instantly recognize. Coombs' adorable illustrations are a perfect match for her story, conveying the quirky but loving atmosphere of Dorrie's home. How I wish that these books would be reprinted, so today's young readers might enjoy their magic!

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, how cute is this book! I was just bemoaning how I couldn’t find many books I want to read, but thanks to my Goodreads friend Abigail, I’ve found some of the Dorrie books and was able to borrow this one from inter-library loan.

This is the first book in the series and it is wonderful. It was published in 1962, when I was eight or nine, and I would have adored it then. This is one of those timeless books that can be enjoyed by readers/listeners of all ages.

Dorrie is a little witch that gets into some magical yet very human trouble when trying to clean up her room. The story is charming and funny.

The illustrations of Dorrie and of her endearing cat Gink and their surroundings are really wondrous.

I’m looking forward to book #2 Dorrie and the Blue Witch, which is in transit from inter-library loan, and I have in hand book #7 Dorrie and the Haunted House which belongs to my library.

I hope to read all of the Dorrie books. This one was delightful.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just discovered this cool little series from the sixties. Ordered this through ILL & was quite pleased to have taken a chance on it. I will be ordering the rest of the series as well. It definitely gives you that cool old book feeling (if you know what I mean). I adored the illustrations also.

[Cobalt714 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dorrie is the little witch whose hat is always crooked and her socks don't match.

I remember this series from when I was a little girl, I loved Dorrie and couldn't wait to get a new story each week.

[Barbara]

loved this series as a child. Used to sit in the aisle of , Washington School's library (my Elementary School) and read each one. Always a bit scary, but I loved them! Could not remember the title and so happy to have found the series again.

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored these books as a kid - so much so that it feels weird that I don't own them. I must have checked them out from the library a million times, or maybe my grandmother owned some of them. Sadly hard to find these days. :(

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Review for the whole series)

A series of delightfully whimsical picture books, Dorris the Little Witch is a perfect fit for kids who like a little mischief and a lot of magical mishaps in their stories.

Dorris the Little Witch series, rated ages 5/6+, rated 3.5 out of 5 stars.

[Jenn M Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books as a child. The magical stories of Dorrie the little witch and her cat Gink always fascinated me, along with the intriguing and beautiful illustrations. Love reading these to my little girl now.

[Katrina Dreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read every single Dorrie book when I was young, so I just had to add a couple here for nostalgia. I thought they were fantastic when I was a kid!

[Tracy]

I loved these books when I was little

[Miri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorrie's mother wants her to clean her room, so Dorrie decides to try some magic to clean it up and ends up turning the cook into a horse and the house blue!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the Dorrie books were my absolute favorite growing up!

[The Northern Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brought back lovely memories of my childhood, think I read the whole series as a kid, may have to do again now I'm an adult.

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical! The story is charming and the illustrations delightful. Dorrie and Gink are wonderful friends to children everywhere across the ages.

[Phyllis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this series when I was little!!!

[Kathy Lukins · Rating 5 out of 5]

My grandmother read these stories to us growing ....how I learned to love books.

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the series of Dorrie books as a kid, these and the Worst Witch were some of my favourites, and always how I thought of being a witch as I grew up.

Reading some of these again as an adult and seeing my 6 year old niece enjoy them too is wonderful. I still love them now too!

[Ayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually listened to this on you tube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAIL3...

For some reason my Library does not have a copy. Thanks to the internet I was able to see and read along this charming little book!

[Min · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh what happens all to avoid cleaning your room.
Dorri looks in her mother's spell book and finds nothing to hell clean her room, so... She makes one.
Cook becomes horse, ducks appear in the soup, and her room is on the ceiling with everything turned blue!

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect classic children's book! The story is so cute and funny!

[Olga Ra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are awesome. The tex sometimes is boring:)

[Samantha Strasser-Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored these books!!! I would check them out of the library repetedly!!!