Mr Majeika

Story

When the new teacher at St Barty’s flies in through the window on a magic carpet, Class Three realise they won’t be bored. Hamish, the class pest, soon finds that he has more than met his match in the wizard-turned-teacher. However things don’t always go as planned as Mr Majeika sometimes forgets his spells, with hilarious results!

Why we chose it

Mr Majeika is a warm, funny and inventive story for children aged 8 to 11 to read in the classroom or at home. It is also praised by parents as a bedtime story for younger children.

Magic-loving fans of Mr Majeika can enjoy other easy-to-read adventures and gain an amusing glimpse of eighties school life.

Where it came from

Humphrey Carpenter lived nearly all his life in Oxford and was a broadcaster, author, prolific biographer and keen jazz musician.

After working for the BBC, Carpenter became a full-time writer in 1975, publishing several histories and a children’s adventure, Joshers: Or London to Birmingham with Albert and Victoria. His Mr Majeika stories were written when his daughters were young.

Carpenter was an expert on children’s literature, and was particularly fascinated by the lives and works of the Inklings, the group of writers which included C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.

Where it went next

Mr Majeika is the first of 15 books published between 1984 and 2006. Some of the stories were adapted into a children’s television series starring Stanley Baxter which ran on ITV from 1988 to 1990. The stories have also been broadcast on radio.

Carpenter adapted Mr Majeika into a musical in 1991. This was premiered in Oxford by his children’s theatre group, the Mushy Pea Theatre Group.

Associated stories

Other Mr Majeika stories include Mr Majeika and the Haunted Hotel, Mr Majeika Joins the Circus, Mr Majeika and the School Caretaker and Mr Majeika Vanishes.