The Witch Family vs Tom's Midnight Garden: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Imagination, Children's fiction, Fiction
The Witch Family
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Two little girls who love to draw witches build an elaborate world around the imaginary Old Witch and her family.
Tom's Midnight Garden
“F, standing alone on the back doorstep, Tom allowed himself to weep tears, they were tears of anger.”
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Daytime life for Tom is dull, but each night he participates in the lives of the former inhabitants of the old house in which he is spending an enforced vacation.
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Tom's Midnight Garden has the widest readership — 28259 ratings behind its score.
- Tom's Midnight Garden reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 47 times.
- The Witch Family runs the darker storyline; Tom's Midnight Garden stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| The Witch Family | Tom's Midnight Garden | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (2863) | 4.0 (28259) |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (4) | 3.7 (40) |
| Google Books | 4.0 (1) | — |
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Reception
| The Witch Family | Tom's Midnight Garden | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 2863 | 28259 |
| Editions | 15 | 56 |
| Citations | 6 | 47 |
| Film adaptations | — | 1 |
| Want to read | 2508 | 15158 |
| Reading it now | 60 | 517 |
| Written reviews | 168 | 1504 |
| Wikipedia attention | — | 1804 |
| Pages | 223 | 240 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Witch Family or Tom's Midnight Garden?
Tom's Midnight Garden has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Tom's Midnight Garden 4.0/5, The Witch Family 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Witch Family or Tom's Midnight Garden?
The Witch Family is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Witch Family (223 pages, ≈ 4 h 08 m); Tom's Midnight Garden (240 pages, ≈ 4 h 27 m).
Which is harder to read: The Witch Family or Tom's Midnight Garden?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Witch Family: Light; Tom's Midnight Garden: Light.