Halloween is nearly here and many of you will be reading Halloween themed stories. We have thought of as many fictional witches as we can but we’re sure that we have missed lots! Do you have a favourite fictional witch to add to our list?
Winnie the Witch by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul – Winnie is still our favourite picture book witch and although we have enjoyed lots of her adventures the original story is still our favourite.
Winnie’s Big Catch by Laura Owen and Korky Paul – We also enjoy reading the Winnie Early Readers in which we are introduced to several new characters,
Meg’s Eggs by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski – The stories about Meg, Mog and Owl are timeless and my daughter loves reading them. Meg’s Eggs is still our favourite.
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler – This is my daughter’s favourite Julia Donaldson story and she loves to re-enact the witch’s adventures.
Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Really Big Adventure by Kristina Stephenson – There is a great twist at the end of this story and it’s related to the witch who follows Charlie throughout his adventure.
It’s Raining Bats & Frogs by Rebecca Colby and Steven Henry – Delia does her best to help when rain threatens the annual witch parade but when changing the rain to bats and frogs doesn’t work she needs to find another solution.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis – We have the picture book version of this classic story which has wonderful illustrations of The White Witch.
The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy – Young witch Mildred Hubble is always in trouble but can she help when she discovers a mysterious group of witches plotting against Miss Cackle’s Academy of Witches?
The Witches by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake – The Grand High Witch is planning to get rid of every child in England but a brave boy and his grandmother are determined to stop her.
The Little Witch by Otfried Preußler and Winnie Gebhardt – The Little Witch (translated from the German Die Kleine Hexe) spends a year trying to be good so that she can attend the annual Walpurgis night celebrations. But does she succeed in impressing the older witches?
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling and Jim Kay – Hogwarts not only takes young wizards but also young witches as well, the most famous being Muggle, Hermione Granger.
You Can’t Make Me Go To Witch School by Em Lynas and Jamie Littler – Daisy is desperate to escape Witch School so that she can fulfil her destiny as an actress but magical forces are at work. Can she find a way to escape from Toadspit Towers?
The Cake, the Wolf and the Witch by Maudie Smith and Tony Ross – A wonderfully original fairytale fantasy with a modern day hero and heroine. Many well known fairytale characters are woven into a story with unique twists.
How to Catch a Witch by Abie Longstaff – ‘Nothing has gone right for Charlie since her family moved. The house is creepy, school makes her nervous and the village seems odd, spooky, almost … magical. Charlie is drawn into a tale of the unexpected, a tale in which good must do battle with evil over an ancient curse.
Who would you add to our list?
We have Witches and Halloween arts, crafts and learning activities on our Pinterest board
What about Tracey Corderoy’s Granny witch? http://nosycrow.com/product-category/books/?s=&contributor=Tracey%20Corderoy (I know Nosy Crow is my publisher too – but I thought of Tracey’s witch anyway!) ALSO – how about the wonderful ‘Gobbolino the Witch’s cat’ by Ursula Moray Williams – and the equally wonderful ‘Carbonel’ books by Barbara Sleigh, with Carbonel, Prince of cats being kidnapped as a kitten, put under a binding spell by a witch, but saved by Rosemary and John?
Thank you! I’d forgotten about Tracey’s Granny Witch. We’ve just finished reading Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat and I thought about including it but my daughter said the story was more about the cat and the witches were too mean!!!
The witch is definitely VERY mean to poor Gobbolino – but Narnia’s White Witch is hardly a cuddly one!!! It’s interesting – maybe your daughter felt so protective of Gobbolino that she couldn’t bear that particular witch being listed! Gobbolino is such a gorgeous little character.
She sees Gobbolino as a kitchen cat, not a witch’s cat and I think you’re right about her feeling protective 🙂 I’d forgotten all about The White Witch until my daughter brought me the book, she had a great time hunting for witches in her bookcase but The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was totally her suggestion!
We have two to add.
Druscilla of Druscilla’s Halloween by Sally Walker http://thereadingtub.com/childrens-book-reviews.php?book=DRUSCILLAS-HALLOWEEN-by-Sally-M-Walker
Winifred of One Wish for Winifred Witch by Cheri Hallwood. http://thereadingtub.com/childrens-book-reviews.php?book=ONE-WISH-FOR-WINIFRED-WITCH-by-Cheri-L-Hallwood
Thank you Terry. I’ll check them out 🙂
So many witches. Where to start. Blog Hop visitor.
Thank you for visiting Sally 🙂
I don’t think I’ve read any of these! I have my work cut out for me before Halloween 😉
Maybe you’ve read other witchy stories?
Ooh, there are a few I haven’t heard of here – I particularly like the sound of It’s Raining Bats and Frogs 🙂
It’s Raining Bats & Frogs is a new one that was published in the summer.
I enjoyed A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett. It is a story about an eleven year old girl learning to become a witch. It also features Granny Weatherwax, one of my favorite witches.
I don’t know that one, thank you for the suggestion 🙂
The Pratchett witches are great, and Hat Full of Sky is nominally a kids’ book…but I’ll caution that it’s not for little kids. I am a huge fan of Terry Pratchett, though, and I love the Tiffany Aching books.
Great collection of books. I don’t keep up with the witches, but I’ll take a look at the Halloween collection at the library and see if there are any great ones you’ve missed.
Thanks for your suggestions Rebecca, I’m not familiar with Terry Pratchett’s books but am intrigued to read more about A Hat Full of Sky – it’s an intriguing title!
When I was in elementary school, my favorite witch was Dorrie the Little Witch by Patricia Coombs.
I recognised that name when I read your comment! I read Dorrie too, I’d forgotten all about her 🙂
We featured our favourite Halloween Books on the blog this week too! Room on the Broom is my all time favourite and we’ve been to the theatre show and the adventure trail too! Great round-up x #PoCoLo
My daughter loves Room on the Broom, she really loves acting the story out 🙂
What wonderful books….Some I remember reading as a child. Lovely memories x
I read a lot of these as a child, It’s Raining Bats & Frogs is the newest book in the post.
I am glad to see your list, I added some to my lists to purchase.
I saw one I did not see here: Boo-La-La Witch Spa
Thanks for sharing on the hop.
I just looked up Boo-La-La Witch Spa, it looks really entertaining! Thank you for the suggestion 🙂
What a great selection of books! I love Meg and Mog (I think I’ve said that before) but I think that Grace would choose The Witches by Roald Dahl. Thank you for linking to #PoCoLo x
Ronald Dahl’s Witches includes some fabulously strong characters 🙂
I was only familiar with Room on the Broom and The Worst Witch. I will be checking out the others on Goodreads and adding them to my Childrens blog tbr. Thanks for the list. I would add Debi Gliori’s Pure Dead Magic series. My son loved the ones we read. Dragons with diarrhea was his favorite thing. Ha ha! Thanks for visiting my Kids blog. 🙂
Thank you for visiting too 🙂 I haven’t heard of Debi Gliori’s Pure Dead Magic series although we enjoy several of her other books.
The worst witch was one of my favorite books when I was growing up!!
It seems that The Worst Witch was an important book for lots of people during their childhoods 🙂
Brilliant selection there, I love Worst Witch and Room on a Broom 🙂 thanks for sharing with #readwithme
We really enjoyed The Worst Witch and can’t wait to read more of the stories.
What a wonderful round up! I have shared this on my Facebook page #readwithme
Thank you Anita 🙂
Aah Winnie is our favourite here. My kids like Meg and Mog but I literally can’t stand them!! Happy Halloween! #readwithme
Winnie is my favourite witch of all time, I would love to see the stories animated 🙂
Oh what a great list! Our favourite at the moment is Room on the Broom. I can’t wait till my kids are old enough to get into Roald Dahl too… although I’ll be waiting awhile till we read The Witches. It’s terrifying! Thanks for sharing #readwithme
The Witches is very scary, that was my choice. I haven’t read it with my daughter yet!
Great idea for a round up. We’re fans of Winnie the Witch here. And I second the earlier comments re some of the Terry Pratchett books #readwithme
I love Winnie the Witch and it’s great to discover new stories in the chapter books too 🙂
Meg & Mog has to be an all-time favourite – even after it was long outgrown! 🙂 #MMBC x
Meg and Dog is so full of humour, we love watching the animations on YouTube too 🙂
That took me by surprise when you told me it was just over a week to Halloween, then I checked the date of the post!
If you asked me, I would tell you I don’t like books about witches, but we’ve read nearly all of those between us over the years!
Yes, this is an older post but we still love all of these witches, none of them are mean and calculating.
LOVE this article and you just about named all our faves (we still love Winnie and definitely still love the early books and read them fairly regularly despite little miss not being so little any more.
Didn’t spot her on your list but love the granny in “Hubble Bubble Granny Trouble” series by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger. Awesome stories about a brilliant cross-generational relationship between a groovy magical grandma and her grandkid.
We’re still huge fans of Winnie and Wilbur! We’ve not read Hubble Bubble Granny but it has already been recommended so we’ll definitely look out for her when we’re next in the library.