Worzel Gummidge

Barbara Euphan Todd's Worzel Gummidge is a funny country story for 7 year olds about a scarecrow who decides he'd quite like to walk about a bit.

What happens

John and Susan have had whooping-cough. They're staying on a farm in Scatterbrook to get better, but they're still catching, so they aren't allowed near other children. Every morning they're packed off on a long walk. By now they're very fed up with each other (Susan is twelve and thinks she knows everything, according to John, who's ten).

One wet morning they cut across Ten-acre field. In the middle stands a scarecrow with a turnip for a face, a black bowler hat and a robin's nest in his coat pocket. John helps himself to his umbrella. And as they go, Susan is sure she hears someone say "Ooh aye!"

That evening the farm kitchen door rattles. In shambles the scarecrow, who's come to fetch his umbrella. He asks Susan how you sit down. He wipes his face with the robin (she's his "handkychiff"). And he only chose his name that morning. Worzel Gummidge.

Who wouldn't want a friend like that? He's grumpy, proud and a little bit daft, and very easy to love. He gets LOTS of birthdays because his face, his middle and his arms are all different ages. When he's cross he lies in the grass and tells you he's sulking!

The funniest bits come when he meets the grown-ups. Mrs Bloomsbury-Barton wears her smart London clothes round the village and looks at the children in a way that makes them feel grubbier by the second. Gummidge decides that a lady with all those feathers in her hat would make a fine scarecrow. You can imagine how well she takes that.

The language is quite old-fashioned. Gummidge talks in a broad country way ("I says to myself", "'Tis usual with scarecrows"), and the children's world is one of nurses, dog-carts and blackcurrant tea. That's a big part of the charm. A confident reader can manage it, but it's a lovely one to share out loud too, so you get to do his voice.

What to read next

If they enjoy a well-meaning visitor who has no idea how things are done, they'll probably love A Bear Called Paddington. A small bear turns up at a London station all the way from Darkest Peru, and he's soon finding out the hard way about baths, cups of tea and escalators.