The Witch-Child

by Imogen Chichester, Charlotte Voake (Illustrator)

'I hate learning spells and I hate making charms and potions and I'm not going to be a witch at all! Not ever!'

Rebellious little Necromancy does not want to follow in her parents' footsteps. Not for her the horrible, damp, stuffy old cave in the middle of the forest. Not for her toadstools, moss-porridge and bats'-leg stew. She has other things in mind - like a proper house with windows and a school to go to. And knowing her determination, she's going to get what she wants by hook or by crook...

Genres: Witches, Childrens

143 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books as a child. I never forgot the name of the main character - Necromancy Gumblethrush - but was just able to locate the book/author online. I recommend this to all young readers. I think I was in the 4th grade when I first came across it.

[Capn · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I hate learning spells and I hate making charms and I'm not going to be a witch at all! Not ever!"
Rebellious little Necromancy does not want to follow in her parent's footsteps. Not for her the horrible, damp, stuff old cave in the middle of the forest. Not for her toadstools, moss-porridge and bats'-leg stew. She has other things in mind - like a proper house with windows and a school to go to.
And knowing her determination, she's going to get what she wants by hook or by crook . . .

Necromancy Gumblethrush is the only child of wizard Zachary and witch Abigail Gumblethrush (or Mrs. Gumblethrush, as her husband will call her)

Zachary would take care of them, though, thought the witch, for he was a good man and a good wizard too, and she knew that he loved her in spite of his formal manner. He was, she thought, absurdly old-fashioned in some ways: his refusal to call her by her given name, for instance; it was ridiculous to go on calling her Mrs Gumblethrush all the time, especially when Abigail was such a pretty name. 'Mrs Gumblethrush, be so good as to pass me my hat!', 'Mrs Gumblethrush, have you any idea where you might have put my broomstick?' 'Another mug of brew, if you please, Mrs Gumblethrush.' Ah, well, she thought, shaking her head, nothing will change him now. He's dreadfully set . . .
A little smile tweaked the corners of her mouth, and she glanced up to the brink of the hollow where the wizard sat, engrossed in his tussle with the pewter mug. In the shade of the tree the baby slept peacefully.

I'm not sure this book lends itself well to quotations, so as it's quite late I'll leave it at that. But it is so well written - really, without exaggeration, I can describe it thusly:

- it's like Ronia, the Robber's Daughter x Matilda x The Worst Witch, and of the same quality

- it is so sweet and unassuming but clever too! Playful like it was co-written by Terry Pratchett, atmospheric like Neil Gaiman on a particularly optimistic day, creative and all that vintage witchy goodness you'd expect from Nina Beachcroft... it sits very comfortably alongside my books by Penelope Lively and Ann Lawrence

- Halfway through this, I hit up bookfinder.com to see what else she wrote and how much it'll cost to hoard it in my home library...

Great little story, full of fun spells and incantations. Cute family dynamic, memorable characters... it's short, it's sweet and it's fun and I have NO EARTHLY IDEA why this isn't better known and hasn't been reprinted!

To wit, it now holds TOP SPOT* on my Top 10 List of Forgotten Vintage Children's Lit I Want Republished! (*at time of writing, subject to revision! Check out that list here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..., and the group here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... - if you're reading this review, you're our sort of person! Come and give your two cents!).

Loved it. Will cherish it. Will be buying at least one of her other books. ;)

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was in elementary school, I checked this book out pretty much non-stop. I don't think anyone else in school had a chance to read it, because I always had it. I haven't read it in years (but I did just order a copy) so I can't really give it more of a review than to say it was one of my absolute faves as a kid.

[Wiebke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have the German version (Trixelinchen Hexenkind) and this was my first own book.
I found the book under the shelf of the small community library, it must have been there for a while and nobody had missed it. After I borrowed it and loved it, the librarian gave it to me. The story isn't particularly outstanding and, to be honest, from today's perspective it's rather old-fashioned, but it will always remain something special for me.

[Angela Tuson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read such good reviews of this; 'better than Worst Witch', 'better than HP' etc. But, although it's quirky and the plot is original, it's not brilliant or that enjoyable. I even preferred 'The Blue-Nosed Witch' (a little chapter book).

[DocNora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quintessentially English, utterly charming and whimsical. I'm so glad I read this!

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book several times in elementary school and was happy to find it on the Internet Archive. I wish I could figure out how to search by topic there but so far I haven't figured it out. Such as early 20th century children's books about sea voyages.
The only disadvantage is that this is a different edition to the one I had, and I disliked the scribbly illustrations very much. They look like they were drawn by Quentin Blake and that is not a compliment.
A pleasant return to an old favourite.