William and the Witch

Reach for this book when your child is beginning to push boundaries, showing a streak of defiant independence, or frequently finding themselves in trouble despite having 'good intentions.' Richmal Crompton's classic stories follow the irrepressible William Brown, an eleven-year-old boy whose vivid imagination and logical (if misguided) leaps lead him into hilarious scrapes. In this collection, William encounters a neighbor he is convinced is a witch, prompting a series of adventurous schemes with his band of Outlaws. The stories validate the intense, often messy inner world of a middle-schooler while offering a humorous mirror for their own social blunders. It is an ideal choice for normalizing the feeling of being misunderstood by the adult world and celebrating the resilience of childhood curiosity.