Worzel Gummidge

by Barbara Euphan Todd

Susan and John are having a very dull holiday in the country until they meet Worzel. They are amazed by the walking, talking bundle of clothes and straw. He's half scarecrow and half human but best of all, he's a wizard! Susan and John soon grow to love Worzel and share all sorts of magical adventures with their unusual friend.

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Classics, Audiobook, Magic, Middle Grade

219 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Barbara Euphan Todd was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, the only child of Anglican minister Thomas Todd and Alice Maud Mary (née Bentham), but was brought up in the rural village of Soberton in Hampshire. She was educated at a girls' school in Guildford in Surrey. She worked as a VAD during World War I, and after her father's retirement lived with her parents in Surrey and began writing. Her early work was published in magazines such as Punch and The Spectator.

In the 1920s, she started writing books for children and collaborated with her husband Commander John Graham Bower, RN (1886–1940), whom she married in 1932. The couple moved to an artistic colony in Blewbury near Oxford, where Bower, an officer in the Royal Navy, wrote fiction and essays under the pseudonym Klaxon. As Euphan, in 1935 Todd wrote South Country Secrets and The Touchstone with her husband. In 1946, after the death of her husband in World War II, she wrote her only adult novel, Miss Ranskill Comes Home (1946), about a woman who returns to England after being stranded on a desert island during the war. It was reissued in 2003 by Persephone Books. Among other works written by Todd were folkstories adapted for radio, plays and stories written in collaboration with other writers, and two volumes of poetry, 'Hither and Thither' (1927) and 'The Seventh Daughter' (1935).

In 1936 she wrote what would become her best known-work, 'Worzel Gummidge or The Scarecrow of Scatterbrook'. The title character is a scarecrow that comes to life. She would later write nine other books featuring the character.

In the 1950s Denis and Mabel Constanduros collaborated with Todd on a series of Worzel Gummidge radio plays for children. In 1967 five Worzel Gummidge stories were narrated by Gordon Rollings in five episodes of the BBC children's serial Jackanory. Todd continued to write novels into the 1970s, but her best work was by then behind her. She died in 1976, just as negotiations were in progress for the television rights to the Worzel Gummidge books.

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having been a childhood fan of the TV version of Worzel, I finally wanted to read the book on which it was all based. The book is a very easy read, and not just because I'm an adult ~ I think children would find it engaging too.
I enjoyed seeing the differences between novel and TV show, looking at the origins of characters like the Crowman in the brief appearance of the scarecrow maker.
Not so much a story as a series of anecdotes, it does have the feel of a school holiday with a succession of events and no overarching plot. I also rather like the fact that the children in the story, like youngsters in real life, just accept strange and magical things without needing explanations and backstories to justify what is happening.
A great book for kids - especially those with a love of nature, and a good way of introducing them to magical realism.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Susan and John are staying on a farm recovering from the whooping cough. While out walking one day, Susan become convinced that the scarecrow is alive. So she is not greatly surprised when later that night he turns up for a visit at the farm house. His name is Worzel gummidge, and he is an abrupt, short tempered, independent type, who creates a series of awkward situations that the children have to extricate themselves, and him, from. However, despite his sometimes outrageous behaviour, the children are fond of their awkward outspoken friend. i loved Worzel Gummidge as a child, he is one of the most memorable characters in children's fiction. The Worzel of the books though is quite different from the sentimental character they made him in the TV series, so if you only know him from TV, don't expect him to be the same.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming and sweet, it belongs on the same shelf as Winnie the Pooh and The Chronicles of Narnia. Just a good old fashioned British childrens' fantasy adventure.

[Bookwormandtheatremouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nostalgic read - I am not sure that I have read these tales before - but I used to watch the original TV adaptation and I loved the one from the BBC this Christmas. This is a lovely classic children's book that simply brings joy as the Susan and John befriend Worzel Gummidge and adventures follow. A great book that should be reintroduced to the children of the 2020s.

[Michelle Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this was a book we read at school and I kept it. I wanted to read it again, now that I'm much, much older and it's funny, but I don't seem to remember it that well. Some parts are a bit familiar. It's such a lovely innocent happy story of a scarecrow who is 'alive' and the adventures had around the countryside with two children, John and Susan. I enjoyed this little light reading for a change. The first Puffin book ever published.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I read as a child, memories of which I have always cherished.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This children's book from the 1930s about the antics of scarecrows that come to life is full of nostalgic wholesome countryside charm. I really enjoyed these stories as a child and I still think they're wonderful now re-reading them as an adult.

[Ben Lovegrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this. Full of nostalgia, surreal humour and delightful rural imagery Pity the rest of the series are out of print, maybe OUP or some other publisher will reprint them in an omnibus?

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a British children’s classic, relatively unknown in the States. Apparently it was made into a television series in the late 70s/early 80s. Worzel Gummidge is a scarecrow who comes to life, causing general havoc in the village of Scatterbrook, while also entertaining two children who have been sent to the country with whooping cough. Like Mary Poppins, our hero is moody and unpredictable. I enjoyed his frequent exclamations of “ooh aye” (the author is from Yorkshire), as well as references to unfamiliar customs - for example, the “Aunt Sally” from the fair.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rural nostalgia from a time England had about half of its current human population and sparrows were still plentiful. It is basic writing, the two children meet a magical scarecrow and stumble from one scenario to the next, with mildly amusing results.

I’m surprised it has so few reviews given the success of Worzel on television. Famous for playing Doctor Who-Jon Pertwee gave a charismatic performance as the titular character and even the modern reboot from Mackenzie Crook isn’t without its charms.

[Barb Middleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characters have no motivation. I kept wondering why they were following the scarecrow. Halfway through there was one comment by Susan that the scarecrow was the first adult to befriend them. I would have liked it elaborated on. Instead the action scenes don’t have a strong purpose. Maybe the scarecrow is the main character and I missed it.

[Robin Petty · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of folks on other forums remark on the cruelty in this book. And before reading it I didn't believe it possible - but yet it is the right word. Worzel is ill-tempered, self-centred and quarrelsome. And yet, weirdly, the kids seem to like him. I can only think that, between the wars, adults put any childlike attributes firmly behind them when they "came of age" and turned so straight-laced that Worzel is, in comparison, an outlying curiosity. The kids *know* he's horrid and remark on it, but that's perhaps the circus-like pull of the guy - to see this adult who isn't playing the adult game and doesn't treat them like the other adults in their lives do. I'd argue he doesn't treat them any better, arguably worse - but they overlook his many faults focussing on the Robin and his magicalness.
Yet how the kids aren't creeped out of their tiny wits by witnessing the party scene I will never know. And don't get me started on the scenes with Aunt Sally who has shock-value and unlikeability in spades or the other villagers who are a bunch of reactionaries by the standards of any era.
I want to read an offshoot series where we hear about the scandalous romantic life of Emily Goodenough. There's kind a hint sometimes that she has a twinkling life away from the governess/nanny gig.
Finally, and I might be talking out of my hat here, but was it Epicurus who talked about objects being imbued the soul of/by their creator? There's a little soupcon of that dished-up at one point and I felt it was an avenue well worth exploring but it didn't become a strong theme that the author B.E.T chose to develop. Can I call her B.E.T? Yes, let's! The book is a picnic short of a bacon sandwich and very dated but is secretly, a real page-turner with clear longevity to match and perhaps inspired Dahl and folks who came later.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worzel Gummidge is a classic not-quite-human, not-quite-other character, who is able to be in the world without being of the world, who throws out brilliant observations and zany commentary in completely novel and childlike ways. Worzel is a scarecrow who meets Susan and John during their confinement in the country for whooping cough. Worzel is wildly participatory in life, from attending a fair to sitting on eggs to leading a war party to destroy a rival scarecrow, and he can quickly move from gleeful to sultry in a few moments.

I'd never ever heard of Worzel until I saw this book on the 1001 Children's Book list, and that's a shame. I hope he is not neglected on the other side of the Atlantic, and I hope he is rediscovered soon here.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic nostalgia filled Audible listen.

I have fond memories of reading this book with my Mum when I was a kid, both of us curled up under my patchwork Holly Hobbie bedspread, giggling at the bad photo of Jon Pertwee as Worzel and Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally on the creased and dog-eared cover. Sadly, like the bedspread and my mum, my copy of Worzel Gummidge is lost to the sands of time.

I've been wanting to read it for myself for a while but if it hadn't been for the BBC remake aired over Christmas, like many of those reading projects, I probably wouldn't have gotten round to it. But missing my mum (Christmas wasn't quite Christmas without our cheery Christmas elf forcing us to wear stupid paper hats and eat yet another Quality Street) and looking for refuge in the television, my dad and I binge-watched the three Worzel Gummidge remakes available on iPlayer. And straight away I knew I had to return to the book from my childhood bedtimes.

It's taken me a little while as I haven't been in a reading frame of mind but the last few nights of Painsomnia were particularly bad and I needed a distraction. I opened the Audible app on my phone and up popped the Worzel book I'd bought. "It's worth a go," I thought. I'm not going to say it's a magic cure all. It's not. But it did achieve something pretty big... it put a smile on my face for the first time in a while. And at 3.45am at that!

I admit I'd forgotten a lot of the adventures of Susan, John and Gummidge (and the tv show is different enough that a lot of the book felt "new") over the years and what I did remember, I still found fresh and funny. And, for a novel first published in 1936, I have to say it's held up well.

Were there some moments when I snorted at an old fashioned choice of word that may have created a double entendre? Maybe. Are there occasions when a child might have to ask a parent what a dated word or phrase means? Probably. But at least they'll be learning something!

To be honest, for the majority of the time, I completely forgot that I was reading a book set in the 1930s (assuming that's the case based on the publication date as no reference to a year is made during the novel).

Throughout Susan and John's time in Scatterbrook, I honestly could have been following the adventures of two children crashing their way through the summer of 2019 (because nobody wants to think about 2020). Okay, so there's no reference to the Internet or mobile phones or whatever teen celebrity is the latest sensation. But the kids are on a farm in the middle of nowhere where the Internet will be spotty at best. Plus... they're going to be far too distracted by the bloody scarecrow that's decided to hang out with them to care about such mediocre things as what's happening on 'YouTube Island Wives Gone Wild' or whatever the latest big show is.

Basically, what I'm saying is that I love how this book in its untouched, natural state has managed to capture childhood so wonderfully that it doesn't need the insertion of modern technology, which is something I've seen done with some novels from the 80s - the editing of teen thrillers to add laptops and mobile phones to bring them up to date.

I absolutely adored this book, which I'm super glad about because it would have been a shame to spoil such fond childhood memories. I listened to this on Audible and the narration was fantastic. It really brought Worzel to life. I'd wholeheartedly recommend this to anybody who read and enjoyed the books as a kid, anybody who watched the recent TV series and found themselves swept away by the quaintness of Worzel and Scatterbrook or to anybody who wants to bring some quiet magic into the life of a child during lockdown 3.0.

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

My memories of Worzel Gummidge only go back as far as the British TV series starring Jon Pertwee - best known as the third Doctor Who - and Una Stubbs. They played Gummidge and Aunt Sally. So I expected the book to be a nice, sweet children's fantasy about a scarecrow who comes to life and befriends two lonely kids recovering from whooping cough. Well, I can only suppose the youth of 1930s Britain was made of more Spartan stuff than today's delicate sprogs.

Susan, the little girl in the story, is sitting along in the farmhouse long after her usual bedtime when Gummidge pays his first visit:

"[Susan] had the sense to know that if she spoke she would be noticed, and that if she were noticed she would be sent to bed, When the farmer and his wife had left the kitchen, the latch rattled again. The tortoiseshell cat stopped washing her ears, and glanced over her shoulder. Then the door opened very slowly, and a strange-looking visitor shambled into the kitchen.

'Evenin'!' said the scarecrow... 'You needn't be scared,' he told her. 'It's only me!'"

Gummidge is a creature with a head made from a turnip and has a "widely-grinning mouth". 'You needn't be scared!' If I had been in Susan's place I would have shat myself.

Gummidge is prone to grumpy sulks when he feels himself offended and becomes quite rude and he is happy to let the children take the blame when he steals Mrs. Briggs' washing. After that there is a sequence in which Gummidge discusses with Susan and John his fate of being burned alive when the farmer decides he no longer has a use. It's quite raw stuff for an expected readership of 8 to 11 year olds.

The arrival of the gypsies in the village gives rise to some sharp prejudicial remarks:

"A painted yellow van was rumbling and rattling down the street. Running by the side of it was a lurcher dog, and sitting on the flap at the back was a row of gypsy children. Their eyes were as black and bright as elderberries and they had mischievous, monkey faces. A blue van followed the yellow one... Queer smells of stew and rabbit skins and oily leather filtered out through the open doorways of the vans."

Which is followed by Gummidge stealing a human baby and replacing it with what everyone thinks is a scarecrow baby with a "remarkably turnipy-looking" face. It later turns out to be the child of one of the gypsy women.

That leaves the scarecrows' big fight in which Gummidge and his scarecrow friends attack the Swede, a new scarecrow who had taken over Gummidge's field:

"Gummidge slapped the Swede in the face. Upsidaisy trundled along and butted him in the middle, another scarecrow wrenched his arm so violently that it came out of his sleeve and fell to the ground. They all flocked round, pulling, tugging and twisting, looking like so many rooks on a newly-sown furrow...

"Just at that moment, one of the lady scarecrows seized hold of the Swede's head, and jerked it off its pole.

"'How very, very horrid,' cried Susan as the head came spinning into her lap."

Despite the happy ending, think carefully who you give the book to. A sensitive child of today may not react as calmly to the idea of a decapitated head plopping into someone's lap as the rugged ragamuffins of pre-war days.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really charming, sweet book about two city kids magical adventures in the countryside. It is escapism and magic done so well that it almost feels real and possible. Love the scarecrow, Worzel Gummidge, the detailed descriptions of nature, wildlife and the rural land. I loved all of it apart from the description of some gypsies that was dated and backwards/racist, yes the book was first published in the 30s but I’m sick of excusing books, there were also decent people in the 30s who would’ve not have used such crude similes to describe another ethnic group, so, really, there’s no excuse for it in this book…

[Mark Higginbottom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun beginning to the Worzel Gummidge series of books.I did find it interesting that the characters were altered so much for the later television series with Jon Pertwee and Una Stubbs.This said it's still a most enjoyable read,I particularly like the fact that it is set in the countryside and on a farm.I.am definitely looking forward to the second novel in the series.

[Bobbelina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, immediately drawn into the world of Susan and John and the holiday adventures they have with a surprise person who comes into their lives with a force of nature. I would highly recommend this for kids of reading age.

[Casle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this.But I didn’t. I listened to it and ended up speeding it up to finish it more quickly. Then backed up twice because it feels like the book stops mid-sentence. Or mid-paragraph at the very least. I felt like I’d missed something. But I didn’t.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

We listened to this in the car. It's going to be a family classic, but not because we loved it. Worzel Gummidge is an annoying character that we now make fun of. It was a funny read because of how absurd it was.

[Emily T · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet children’s classic story and an easy read.

[Michelle Teasdale (Yeshe Lhatso) · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6yr old son and I enjoyed this funny book as a bedtime story. The characters are great!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, but showing its age.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[LudmilaM · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars.

[Cheryl]

wishlisted on pbs

Deb says 'not quite human, not quite other' which could also apply to my favorite sf themes, including uplifted animals, sapient computers/robots, aliens....

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read or listen for young readers curious about scarecrows. A fun read aloud for summer or fall.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooh aye!

[Chris Malone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still eminently readable - I found a lovely old 1960s puffin edition in our local secondhand bookshop.