- Illustrated Chapter Books
- Ages 7–10
- Fantasy
Hilda and the Time Worm
Book 4 of 9 in Hilda Chapter BooksView the full series
Part of the Hilda universeOpen the collection
A brisk, funny Hilda tie-in with time-bending weirdness and enough mystery to keep chapter-book readers turning pages. It is a good next step once children are comfortable with the first three tie-ins.
- Best for7–10
- FormatIllustrated
- Length200 pp
- Read aloud~2 hr50 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
Tone
- Adventurous
- Whimsical
- Funny
- Suspenseful
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Hilda's Trolberg adventures continue with more strange creatures, bigger magical problems and the sort of supernatural complications that seem to follow her everywhere. In this fourth illustrated chapter book, time itself becomes part of the trouble, pulling Hilda and Twig into a weird adventure where curiosity, quick thinking and loyalty matter as much as bravery. The story draws on the Netflix series while reshaping the material into a prose-led novel for developing readers. It has the familiar Hilda ingredients, odd creatures, city folklore, comic moments and a heroine who asks questions before judging, but with a faster, more mischievous rhythm. The result is a very accessible chapter-book fantasy: lively enough for reluctant readers, strange enough for Hilda fans, and still emotionally gentle enough for younger middle-grade children.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 7–10
- Read aloud · 6–9
- Independent · 7–10
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
Moderate
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Works well for
- Reading together
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
3 / 5 · Mostly fine
Graphic intensity
2 / 5 · Mild
Best for
- Time travel
- Tv to book bridge
- Hilda fans
- Fast chapter book
- Magical mystery
Avoid if
- Dislikes time loops
- Prefers realistic stories
- Wants very calm reading
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Nightmares or fears
- Interested in science
In the classroom
How it works in school.
Illustrated Hilda adventures — a classroom-library pick for fans of the comics moving into longer reads.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific draw is a creature that bends time — Hilda and Twig pulled into a small magical disaster where the same moments keep folding back on themselves. A seven-year-old gets the satisfying weirdness of time going wrong, played safe enough not to be confusing.
- Adventure and freedom
- Animal companions
- Making a difference
- Secret world
- Time travel
Why parents love it
The Hilda chapter-book with a time-bending puzzle at its centre — friendlier than it sounds, with Twig and Hilda's usual problem-solving dynamic. Good for a child curious about time-travel ideas but not yet ready for a heavier sci-fi treatment.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Bedtime appropriate
- Beautiful illustrations
In the series
Hilda Chapter Books.
9 books · open the series →
About the creators
About the creators.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
When you buy through the links above, we may earn a small commission — it never costs you more, and it never changes the books we choose. How we’re funded →