Gobbolino the Witch's Cat

by Joyce Lankester Brisley

Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse

by Ursula Moray Williams

Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat

by Ursula Moray Williams

The Teddy Robinson Storybook

by Joan G. Robinson

Ursula Moray Williams and Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat

When Ursula Moray Williams created the wonderful Gobbolino, he was not the only one longing for security in a happy, loving home where he could stay “for ever and ever”.

It was 1940, and in 106 continuous days of German air raid warnings, his author had become used to sheltering with her two young sons under the stairs of their Surrey home.

Bombings killed eighty-four workers in the aircraft factory where her husband worked and at another nearby, and while he was on duty as an ARP warden, an incendiary blast had hit their garage at home.

Gobbolino himself was to become a war casualty. For after the first edition sold out, the printing plates and Williams’s own illustrations were lost in the Blitz. Only twenty years later was the book reissued – and became a worldwide bestseller.

Williams too was to face many crises, yet in her work for children, in many acts of kindness, and in determination, her life became as inspirational as those of her brave, fictional heroes like Gobbolino.

Ursula Moray Williams (1911–2006) wrote sixty-eight books for children, including classics such as Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse.

Colin Davison,

author of Through the Magic Door: Ursula Moray Williams, Gobbolino and the Little Wooden Horse (Northumbria University Press)

GOBBOLINO

the Witch’s Cat

First published in 1942, this classic tale of a very special cat has been delighting children for generations.

No one could mistake Gobbolino for a simple kitchen cat, with his sparky whiskers and magic tricks, but that’s just what the witch’s kitten wants to be. Instead of learning how to turn mice into toads for the witch’s brew, Gobbolino sets out on a new adventure to find a family and a home of his own.

Publisher’s Note:

The publisher has used the first edition of Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat, published in Great Britain in 1942 by George G. Harrap & Co. Limited, for this publication. It is reproduced here complete and unabridged.

First published 1942 by George G. Harrap & Co. Limited

This edition published 2014 as part of the Macmillan Classics series by Macmillan Children’s Books

This electronic edition published 2017 by Macmillan Children’s Books

an imprint of Pan Macmillan

20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

Associated companies throughout the world

www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-1-5098-5817-0

Text copyright © Ursula Moray Williams 1942

Illustrations copyright © Catherine Rayner 2012

Foreword copyright © Joan Aiken Enterprises Ltd 2001

Author Note copyright © Kingfisher Publications PLC 2001

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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