The Ultimate Fantasy Series Ranking

Research dossier

Bed-Knob and Broomstick

Books 2 books Status Complete 1944–1947 Reading commitment Low Mary Norton Last reviewed 2026-09-06

Overview

A two-book duology by Mary Norton about a magical bedknob that lets an ordinary bed travel through time and space. In the first book, three children staying with their great-aunt discover their landlady is a trainee witch, who gives their bed a knob that can transport it anywhere they wish; in the sequel, the same bed carries them back to 17th-century England, where they meet a would-be necromancer named Emelius Jones. The two stories were originally published separately, three years apart, and only combined into a single omnibus volume a decade later. Loosely the basis for Disney's 1971 film Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

Portal fantasy · For Middle grade

Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking

Bed-Knob and Broomstick Mary Norton

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
The Magic Bedknob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons19441coreN/A
Bonfires and Broomsticks19472coreN/A

Two originally separate novellas -- The Magic Bedknob (1944, J.M. Dent UK / G.P. Putnam's Sons US) and its sequel Bonfires and Broomsticks (1947, J.M. Dent) -- later combined into a single omnibus volume, Bedknob and Broomstick, in 1957 with new illustrations by Erik Blegvad. Both original volumes are catalogued here under their own first-publication years per this project's author-credit-fidelity convention; the 1957 combined edition is the commonly available modern printing but not a separately registered work. Confirmed a genuinely separate, unrelated story from Mary Norton's The Borrowers, with no shared characters or setting -- a young boy and his siblings discover a magical bedknob that lets a bed travel through time and space, first to a Caribbean island and then, in the sequel, back to 17th-century England to meet a would-be necromancer. Loosely the basis for Disney's 1971 film Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

Quick answers

Why this rank?

Not yet ranked: awaiting reader-rating data collection. None of its Core Canon books has a recorded reader rating yet. See the Rankings page for which universes are currently ranked.

Why explore this universe?

2 books · Complete

Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment portal fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.

Reading order

Publication order (2 Core Canon books)

  1. The Magic Bedknob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons (1944)
  2. Bonfires and Broomsticks (1947)

Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.

Awards (verified)

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Suggestions computed from what Bed-Knob and Broomstick and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.

Official resources

Research details

How do we know this?

Admission: Admit Bed-Knob and Broomstick (Mary Norton) accepted 2026-09-06

Sources: (see source tier definitions)

Last reviewed: 2026-09-06

Rule: Rule: Core Canon = both original books (The Magic Bedknob, 1944; Bonfires and Broomsticks, 1947), a closed two-book duology later combined into a single 1957 omnibus edition, itself not separately registered.

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