Mr Majeika

Humphrey Carpenter's Mr Majeika is a funny school story for 6 year olds about a teacher who arrives on a magic carpet.

What happens

It's a wet Monday at St Barty's and Class Three are in a terrible mood. Their new teacher hasn't turned up. Then a window slides open all by itself and in he flies, landing with a bump on the classroom floor (and an "Ow!").

Mr Majeika used to be a wizard. Nobody believes in wizards any more, so the work dried up and he's had to get a job as a teacher instead. He makes the class promise to help him be a perfectly ordinary one.

That promise lasts about a day. The magic keeps slipping out of him, usually when Hamish Bigmore is being awful. And Hamish is VERY good at being awful.

His ruler turns into a hissing snake in his hand. Later on, an old spell Mr Majeika thought he'd forgotten turns Hamish into a frog in the tadpole tank. The trouble is he's forgotten the words to undo it, and Hamish's parents are due home in two days.

What would you try? Class Three decide the answer must be in the fairy tales they already know, which is exactly the sort of plan you'd want to be part of.

Each chapter is a little adventure of its own, so it's very easy to read one at bedtime and stop there. There's a flying potion that goes missing, a pile of chips that appears out of nowhere and some very alarming teeth.

Poor Mr Potter the head teacher is half the fun. He always turns up just too late to see the magic properly, and every time he nearly does he decides he isn't feeling very well.

The jokes are gentle and silly. Mr Majeika is a bit hopeless and very kind, and it's often the children who work out what to do. It's lovely for a young reader to be in on a secret the grown-ups can't see.

What to read next

If this one goes down well, Mr Majeika and the Music Teacher is the next term at St Barty's. Hamish turns up with an enormous double bass, and there's a new teacher that nobody seems to have hired.