Wobble the Witch Cat

by Mary Calhoun, Roger Duvoisin (Illustrator)

When Wobble cannot ride the thin, slippery handle of Maggie's new broom, she must make an ingenious substitution

Genres: Picture Books, Halloween, Cats, Childrens, Fiction, Witches

Paperback

First published June 28, 1958

About the author

Mary Louise Huiskamp Wilkins, also known as Mary Calhoun was born on August 3, 1926 in Keokuk, Iowa. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism for the University of Iowa in 1948. She was hired as a reporter for the World-Herald in Omaha, Nebraska after graduation. Her fascination with spirits and folklore of the 19th century led her to write stories about witches, elves, cats, dwarfs, and pixies. She has also published stories in Jack and Jill and Humpty Dumpty magazines. She worked at the Omaha World Herald before marrying fellow journalist Frank Calhoun. Her first book, Making the Mississippi Shout, was published in 1957. She wrote more than 50 children's books during her lifetime including the Katie John series, Julie's Tree, Henry the Sailor Cat, and Cross-Country Cat. She died on October 27, 2015 at the age of 89.

Reviews

[Sonia Gomes]

I loved Wobbles!!!

The witch with whom Wobbles lives has to go Halloweening and Wobbles hates the broom, because the handle is slippery and once he fell off the broom and all the other cats laughed at him.
So he hides the broom...
Maggie the Witch, searches, searches and cannot find the broom. All the other Witches are up there cleaning their part of the sky, their cats doing all sorts of aerobatics
Maggie then uses her vacuum cleaner to brush the sky, Wobbles is extremely happy as he can sit comfortably on the dust bag and even do loops.
Lovely story and the illustrations very nice!

[Abigail]

Wobble had once been a friendly and contented little witch's cat - the perfect familiar for the motherly Maggie. But when Maggie brought home a new broom, and Wobble fell off - thereby earning the ridicule of his peers - his attitude changed, and he became a real crosspatch! What good was a witch's cat, if he couldn't ride a broom?, mused Wobble, who grew more and more discontented, as Halloween drew near. Finally, unable to stand the idea of falling off again, Wobble got rid of Maggie's broom! Would that be the end of their Halloween flight? Or would Maggie find another way to fly...?

Wobble the Witch Cat is a sweet little Halloween story from Mary Calhoun, who has explored the witchy "experience" in other titles, like The Witch of Hissing Hill , and The Witch Who Lost Her Shadow . The illustrations, which have a vintage 1950s feeling (a little bit "scratchy," only a few colors, in those scenes which have color), are done by Roger Duvoisin, whose picture-books - Petunia , Veronica - are considered classics of the genre. All in all, this is just a gentle little tale, perfect for younger readers looking for Halloween tales with minimal scares.

[Ashley S.]

because it is beautiful cat name wobble.

[Juushika]

I love me an irascible children's book protagonist--there's value in teaching a little selfishness and self-determination, and honestly they're just so fun within the safe confines of kidlit's low stakes and happy endings. This fits the bill and comes with a fun Halloween aesthetic and charming illustrations--particularly the color palette, white-on-black, and lovable pudgy older witch. This isn't remarkable or memorable, but it's a solid pleasure.

[J]

This was a charming Halloween story that although having witches made them quite charming as it gave them a new face-about. And at the same time you are introduced more to a witch's cat who is as personable as many seem to be faceless.

There is nothing within the story to scare young readers so if you can find it this can be one of those upcoming Halloween tradition stories. At the same time it will allow you to explore with your child(ren) how things change can affect us but also how our feelings can affect how we present ourselves to the world.

The illustrations were interesting for they were a mix of cute and whimsical with enough to raise the eyebrow. Fortunately they don't take away from the story of Wobble but help to lend the right amount of spooky/mystical air to the telling....

[Meredith]

Done in very 1950's illustrations, Wobble solves the problem of being unable to hang on to the back of his witch's skinny push broom and regains his pleasant temperment while giving the trick-or-treaters a special aerial display.

[Leah]

I really enjoyed this one, especially the vintage-y illustrations. Wobble isn't into riding on the witch's broom on Halloween night because he fell off the wobbley thing one year and embarassed himself. But this year, he's got an alternative ride that works out just dandy!

[Graywaren]

A cute Halloween tale about a cat who hates his witch mistresses new broom since he finds it hard to ride. Whimsical riding of a vacuum ensues. It's a decent Halloween tale for your collection, but it was not a favorite for me.

[Becky]

I found this series of picture books by the author of one of my favorite children's books of all time and I just had to give them a try. This one is definitely dated and the illustrations are sub-par, but it was a fun read.

[Rachel Jessen]

My 5 year old loved this Halloween book.

[Leah Bayer]

My favorite book as a kid, 5 million stars for Wobble

[Fallon Willoughby]

This is rather adorable!

[Melanie Gaum]

Fun Halloween read. I felt bad for poor Wobble, who was a little traumatized from the previous Halloween and was nervous to ride on a broom again. The witch, Maggie, was described as a "fat, chuckling old lady," but she didn't seem very fat to me. This was published in the 1950s, so maybe that was considered fat back then. I also wonder if someone who worked on Hocus Pocus was partly inspired by this book (vacuum as a witch's broom.

[April]

This is another old book that I recently weeded from my son's K-8 school library. The best part was seeing my name scrawled in pencil on the due date card stamped May 7, 1980. My taste in books hasn't changed very much since 1st grade! The story of a "very grumpy witch cat named Wobble" is pretty cute, but I especially liked the 1950s illustrations done in black, orange, and yellow.

[Diane]

Wobble doesn’t like the broom he rides on with Maggie, the witch. The other cats even laugh at him because he fell off the broomstick last Halloween. So, on the night before Halloween, Wobble puts the broomstick in the garbage. Maggie can’t find her broomstick so she decides to ride a vacuum cleaner. At first, Wobble is reluctant, but he finds the bag a very comfortable ride.

[Lisa Boyd]

Copyright 1958. This is a great example of how youth lit has changed over the past 60 years. It also has a cat in it and a fun story. Glad I found it!

[Lila]

A true halloween picture book classic!

[Kim]

Love the illustrations and the silly cat, Wobbles. Cats certainly put up with a lot from their people.

[Rick]

Charming illustrations and simple tale of a Witch’s familiar caught up in worrying about Halloween and flying around on a broomstick he can’t hang onto.

[Serena]

Simple story, great artwork

[Alana Walters]

This book is about a cat who is afraid to fly on Halloween night because he fell off of the whishes' new broom and he takes the broom and throws it away. The witch is so sad but she tries to find something else to fly on and the magic from the broom stick went onto the vacuum cleaner and they flew that into the night sky and wobble did not wobble that Halloween.

This book is a good one for October and for finding the courage to try new things and not take the easy way out and not do the right thing. When you try new things and overcome your fears you may find things you love.