Grimbold's Other World by Nicholas Stuart Gray #20BOS26-3

The villagers do not know what to make of Muffler, a foundling named after the white scarf he was wrapped in when discovered in a hen’s nest. Brought up by a childless couple, Simon and Meg, he is a goatherd (but not a lonely one), talking to his herd, composing rhymes and telling stories.

It is when he is sick in bed with a cold that Grimbold, a mysterious cat, appears:

“I never heard a cat talk before,” said Muffler sleepily. “Are you really a stray?”

The cat’s eyes slitted. He arched his nick and licked his chest. It seemed he did not mean to answer. Then he favored Muffler with an impassive stare.

“You are thinking of some other animal,” he said coldly. “In order to stray, one must first belong. I do not belong.”

“I beg your pardon.”

“Cats are not like other creatures,” said the ebony beast. “They live in two worlds. One is the world of daylight. The other, the world of night.”

His tone was slightly sinister and Muffler was fascinated.

It turns out Grimbold has come to bring Muffler to the night kingdom to rescue Gareth, a young man who has been imprisoned, frozen in ice by a sorcerer. The fierce Grimbold has a weakness for this willful young man who is feuding with his father – it is not the last time Muffler will be dragged into the unappreciative Gareth’s affairs.

Muffler’s excursions into the magical other world are characterized by challenging situations his kind heart drags him into – a lost bird, a baby dragon separated from his mother, a prince’s falcon – and the enmity of Gareth’s father, who wants the ring that allows Muffler to talk to animals.

In the background, always, is Grimbold, warning Muffler to think twice before entering the night kingdom (which is unfair, given he brought Muffler there in the first place) but capable of singing an old lady to sleep. In one chapter, Muffler finds himself begging a queen to pardon Gareth’s insolence which has resulted in a death sentence. She gives Muffler a written pardon for Gareth that the king withdraws before they have extracted Gareth from the castle. Grimbold, Gareth, Muffler and several horses belonging to Simon and Meg make a dramatic escape.

Muffler has witnessed some disturbing things in the other world introduced by Grimbold. However, when he has the possibility of a life of luxury vs. the magical world he has just begun to enjoy, he opts for freedom – and future adventure!

I had included Sabriel by Garth Nix in my 20 Books of Summer, then read that Nix was inspired by Grimbold’s Other World, so I decided to begin with that one.

Title: Grimbold’s Other World
Author: Nicholas Stuart Gray
Illustrator: Charles Keeping
Publication: Meredith Press, hardcover, 1968 (originally published in 1963)
Genre: Juvenile fantasy
Source: Personal copy

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 20 Books of Summer 2026

• Reading the Meow 2026 (a bit early)

Other NSG reviews: The Apple Stone, Down in the Cellar, The Stone Cage, A Wind From Nowhere