Bed-Knob and Broomstick

Mary Norton wrote the two books which now make up Bedknob and Broomstick in the 1940s, but they are as fresh and delightful as ever some sixty years later. Carey, Charles, and Paul Wilson are three children sent to stay with an elderly aunt in a small Bedfordshire village. There they meet the very proper spinster Miss Eglantine Price. The holiday is nice but dull until Paul makes a discovery: Miss Price is a witch! In the first segment of the book the three children with Miss Price in tow use magic to have some exciting adventures that nearly end in calamity. In the second segment, set about one year later, the three children spend their holiday with Miss Price herself, and adventures ensue again. Mary Norton wrote beautifully about the English countryside. She had a fresh wit and a sparkling sense of humor that will enchant children of all ages. In the 1970s there was a remarkably inferior Disney production of Bedknob and Broomstick, but if you've been so unfortunate as to see it don't let it poison the books for you, they are far, far better.

as you know, i am a BIG Disney fan, BUT this book is so much better than the movie - can't tell you, you must read it! the wonder and excitement and the MAGIC. oh how i loved those innocent days of youth, i used to read books like this for hours, lost in imagination. great book, and when reading try not to think of Angela Landsbury...

I've always found the Borrower books to be boring and somewhat of a sluggish read, but this book by Mary Norton is superb and I'm surprised that more people don't know of it. The writing is witty and fast-paced. Erik Blegvad's illustrations are a joy to look at and compliment the writing beautifully.

I read this book during the summer and I thought it was cool. It's not like the Disney movie but so what, this was published before. Read this book!!