Bed-Knob and Broomstick
#4283.99 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 1957 Reading commitment Low Mary Norton Last reviewed 2026-10-13
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 (3 works) counts toward ranking
Bed-Knob and Broomstick Mary Norton
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Magic Bedknob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons | 1944 | 1 | N/A | ||
| Bonfires and Broomsticks | 1947 | 2 | N/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.
Bed-Knob and Broomstick (1957) core · 3.99 (11,706 ratings); The 1957 combined edition of The Magic Bed-Knob (1943) and Bonfires and Broomsticks (1947), revised by the author, the form in which both books have since stayed in print and the basis of the Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). ISBN recorded: the Odyssey Classic edition. The reader rating is the work-level figure across editions.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Bed-Knob and Broomstick? Bed-Knob and Broomstick's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for Bed-Knob and Broomstick? Publication order, starting with The Magic Bedknob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Bed-Knob and Broomstick finished? Complete (1957).
- How much reading does Bed-Knob and Broomstick take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is Bed-Knob and Broomstick ranked? #428 in this site's official ranking, based on 11,706 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #428?
Ranked #428 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.99 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (11,706 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #427, The Shamer Chronicles (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 1 book · Complete · 12k ratings · Ranks #428 overall
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
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards could be confirmed for this duology.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.99 across 11,706 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. 2 additional Core Canon books haven't been rated yet, so they aren't counted here. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Bed-Knob and Broomstick restructured: the combined volume becomes the Core book, the two stories Expanded accepted 2026-10-13
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: The Magic Bedknob Tier 2
- Wikipedia: Bonfires and Broomsticks Tier 2
- EBSCO Research Starters: Bed-Knob and Broomstick Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-10-13
Rule: Core Canon = Bed-Knob and Broomstick (1957), the combined volume in which both stories have stayed in print. Expanded = the two original books separately: The Magic Bed-Knob (1943) and Bonfires and Broomsticks (1947).