BOOK CLUB: THE WORST WITCH SERIES

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Hey there Earthlings, Alternatives and Trollers. Put down that mouse and lend an ear. Welcome to The Bandersnatch blog where we talk weird, wacky and wondrous. I'm Mama Ogre and I have no idea what I'm doing.

Book blog day boo yah. As you should know Tuesdays is book blog day were we talk anything and everything and pretty much run with it. Today's blog is on the Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy.

The worst witch is a series of eight books which focus on Mildred Hubble a young student at Cackles Academy for young witches....a magic school. Mildred although somewhat clumsy is a well meaning and hard working student despite getting into disastrous situations which has dubbed her with the moniker The Worst Witch.

The Worst Witch

The novel begins with Mildred Hubble and the upcoming traditional assembly where all of the first-years are given their own black cats that they will teach to ride on their Broomsticks with them. Unlike the other girls, who receive black kittens, Mildred receives a tabby cat, which she simply calls Tabby. The kitten is unable to sit on a broomstick, so Mildred carries Tabby in her bag. Miss Hardbroom disapproves and Mildred has to stop. Afterwards, another witch called Ethel Hallow teases Mildred about it, and dares her to turn her into a frog. Mildred loses her temper and turns Ethel into a pig instead.

In the next chapter, Mildred and Maud inadvertently make an invisibility potion instead of a laughing potion in their class test.

In the following chapter, the girls are practising for a broomstick display for Halloween. Ethel lends Mildred her spare broom, on which she has secretly put a spell. During the Halloween festival, Mildred's broom starts bucking, causing all the girls to fall from their broomsticks. The Chief Magician denounces the academy, and Mildred is summoned to a meeting with Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom the next morning. Mildred, fearing expulsion, decides to run away with Tabby.

When walking through the forests near the academy, Mildred hears voices through the trees and comes across a group of witches, headed by one who looks like Miss Cackle. After hearing their plot to turn every teacher and student witch in the academy into frogs, Mildred turns the group into snails, packs them into cardboard boxes and takes them back to the academy. At first, Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom refuse to believe her, but when Mildred describes the leader, Miss Cackle realises she sounds like her identical twin sister, Agatha. They turn Agatha and the rest of the group back into humans, Mildred's interview is cancelled, and she is praised as a hero to the rest of the academy.

• The Worst Witch Wiki

The Worst Witch was published by Allison and Busby in 1974 who took the book after it had been turned down by three other publishers.

The Worst Witch Strikes Again

Mildred Hubble returns to Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches for the Summer Term of her first year. Miss Cackle has trusted Mildred to look after new girl Enid Nightshade and help her settle in. Mildred starts showing Enid around the academy, only to discover that Enid has smuggled a monkey into school with her. During the assembly that follows, Miss Cackle announces her birthday celebration.

During a chanting lesson with Miss Bat after assembly, Enid deliberately sings awkwardly and out of tune, causing Mildred to burst into hysterical laughter. Mildred is sent to Miss Cackle's office. When going up to her room, Mildred checks on Enid's monkey, causing it to escape. Mildred chases it down the stairs and bumps into Miss Hardbroom, who sends her to the library to study.

After spotting the monkey on top of one of the castle towers Mildred jumps onto her broomstick. Miss Hardbroom turns the monkey into its original form, a normal regulation black cat. Enid secretly reveals to Mildred that she turned the cat into a monkey for fun.

On Sports Day, Mildred and Enid become partners. Enid places a spell on Mildred's pole, so in the pole-vaulting contest, Mildred springs high into the air and lands into Miss Hardbroom's study via the window. Moments later, Miss Cackle, Miss Hardbroom, and Miss Drill arrive and Miss Cackle angrily says that if there is any more bother from Mildred that term, she will be expelled.

Determined to avoid expulsion for the rest of the term, Mildred refuses every daring suggestion Enid makes. Enid decides to skip Miss Cackle's boring birthday celebration and hides in a store cupboard, pulling Mildred in with her. Ethel Hallow locks the door behind them.

Inside the cupboard, the two girls find an old broomstick that they use to fly out of a slit-window leading into the assembly hall. As luck has it, Maud is on stage, having been chosen to recite the first years' contribution to the recital. Maud introduces Mildred and Enid as a surprise broomstick display item. The display is a disaster, but Miss Cackle decides it is the thought that counts, and praises them highly. The three girls become friends.

- The Worst Witch Wiki

The Worst Witch Strikes again was Published by Allison and Bushby in 1980 and contains a new character called Enid Nightshade who wasn't in the first book.

A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch

Mildred Hubble returns to Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches for her second year, determined to lose her embarrassing reputation as "the worst witch in the school". After Maud Spellbody and Enid Nightshade arrive, the three bump into two first-years (one of whom reminds Mildred very strongly of someone, the other with Ginger frizzy hair in bunches). The one who seems familiar bursts into tears and clings onto Mildred when she hears that many of the teachers (including Miss Hardbroom) are quite strict. Mildred also accidentally slips a made-up story about Miss Hardbroom turning a student into a frog when she was just two seconds late for a lesson. To the girl's horror, they also learn that they have Miss Hardbroom for another year.

The next morning, a fire bell rings. Mildred scrambles into her clothes but notices outside her window Miss Hardbroom standing in the playground surrounded by hazy purple smoke. Thinking she is in a state of shock, Mildred tries to douse her in freezing cold water but the bucket slips off her broomstick and lands with a clang on Miss Hardbroom's head. After witnessing the incident, Ethel Hallow confronts Mildred at lunchtime, saying that the girl she told the frog story to was her younger sister, Sybil. After prodding at Mildred, Mildred loses her temper and insults Ethel's family ("All you Hallows are weeds, weeds, weeds!").

After an unfortunate flying lesson, where Tabby makes another terrifying attempt to avoid sitting on the end of the broomstick, Miss Hardbroom sends Mildred to her room to calm down. When sitting in her bed, however, Mildred accidentally falls asleep and does not hear Ethel creeping into her room. Mildred is awoken by her bedroom door shutting, only to find that everything looks giant-sized, even Tabby. Peeking in the mirror, she finds that somebody has turned her into a frog. When jumping onto her bed, the frog-Mildred notices a tatty handful of weeds on her pillow, no doubt left by Ethel as a reference to her family's insult and why she turned her into the frog.

Panicking, Mildred squeezes under the gap under her bedroom door and hops off to a potions lesson, where everyone has noticed her disappearance. Miss Hardbroom, however, discovers her and puts her in a jar. During the lesson, Mildred manages to escape from the jar and hops over to Ethel's desk, where she drinks an invisibility potion. Taking advantage of her invisibility, the frog-Mildred hops out of the academy and lands in the lily pond on the castle grounds.

There, Mildred meets another frog who also was a human once called Algernon Rowan-Webb. Algernon reveals that he was turned into a frog by a fellow magician after an argument. Algernon also reveals that the one thing he craves is some toast and crumpets with butter.

Promising to return for him, Mildred hops back up to the academy. Maud and Enid instantly recognise her and take her to Ethel, who reluctantly turns her back into a human. Miss Hardbroom comes by and Ethel tells her that she caught Maud, Enid, and Mildred sneaking around the school. Miss Hardbroom is about to give Mildred a punishment when she notices that Mildred's feet are still invisible. Mildred tells her what really happened. Miss Hardbroom tells Mildred and Ethel to report to her office the next day.

In the morning, Miss Hardbroom bans both Mildred and Ethel from attending the Halloween ceremonies – the only chance Mildred would have had to come into contact with a magician who could turn Algernon back into a human. Mildred feels she has no choice but to kidnap somebody who is going to the Halloween festival. She tricks a third-year witch, Griselda Blackwood, into looking under her bed for an imaginary Beetle where Mildred ties her up and takes her cat.

Later, Ethel discovers Griselda being held captive in Mildred's room and the two fly off to the festival to turn Mildred in. Mildred gives herself away and barges up to Mr Hellibore and gives him the box that contains Algernon. Mr Hellibore, one of Algernon's fellow magicians at the time of his transformation, turns him back to his human form.

As a last request from Mildred, Mr Hellibore magics up a pot of tea along with some toast and crumpets with butter. The three head off to enjoy the supper.

- The Worst Witch Wiki

A bad Spell for the worst witch was published in 1982

The Worst Witch All at Sea

Mildred Hubble returns to Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches for the Summer Term of her second year. Instead of the usual black-and-grey-checked dresses, Miss Hardbroom persuaded Miss Cackle to change them to plain black. After crash-landing in a pile of snow and meeting up with her best friends, Maud Spellbody and Enid Nightshade, Ethel Hallow appears and tells Mildred that Miss Cackle wants to see her.

Miss Cackle suggests to Mildred that she replaces Tabby. Last term, a third-year witch, Fenella Feverfew, transferred to Miss Pentangle's Academy several mountaintops away and left behind her sleek black cat, Ebony, since they have owls at Miss Pentangle's instead of black cats. Down in the kitchens, Mildred reluctantly hands over Tabby to Miss Tapioca (to catch mice), who gives her Ebony in return. Mildred is too upset to tell either Maud or Enid about it. Miss Hardbroom also announces that Mr Rowan-Webb, the frog-magician whom Mildred saved from the lily pond the previous term, has invited all the second-years to spend a week's holiday at his castle, Gloom Castle at Grim Cove.

Unable to bear the thought of a week without Tabby, on the morning before the girls set out for Grim Cove, Mildred sneaks down into the school kitchens, lets Ebony out of his cage and instead hides Tabby inside.

When they reach Gloom Castle, they find that it is falling apart: the armchairs have springs and stuffing sticking out and there are no proper beds (apart from one, which Ethel Hallow soon claims) other than old sleeping-bags, piles of pillows, and what appear to be hospital trolleys. Mildred gets an old sleeping-bag under the window, and manages to divert attention away from Tabby.

Mildred spots a boat attached to a breakwater and decides to hide Tabby in the cabin of the boat. After a wonderful day on the beach, Mildred tries to sneak some kippers to Tabby, but Ethel catches Mildred, who pretends to be looking for some mythical treasure on Cat's Head Rock in front of the cove in the boat on the breakwater. As the two head back up the cliff stairs, they witness Miss Hardbroom flying down to the beach on her broomstick with her own black cat, Morgana. Morgana runs to the boat and feeds on the kippers that were meant for Tabby. Miss Hardbroom spots both Tabby in the cabin and Morgana eating the fish. Stepping on board to investigate, she slips on a kipper, bangs her head and falls unconscious.

Sneaking out to feed Tabby again, Mildred is confronted by Ethel, who snidely tells her that she untied the boat and let it drift out to sea. Mildred manages to get to the boat where she discovers not only Tabby, but the comatose Miss Hardbroom. Minutes after falling onto the boat, they bump into Cat's Head Rock. Mildred ties the boat onto an odd-looking chunk of rock and falls asleep.

When she awakens, she finds that Maud and Enid have discovered them. Mildred tells them that there is something strange about the rock the boat is tied to. They pull at it and find that it is the mythical treasure chest. When they get back, Miss Hardbroom has revived and her injured head is bandaged. The contents of the treasure chest are used to repair Gloom Castle and Mildred is given Tabby back as a reward.

Mildred enjoys the rest of the holidays, feeling like "the luckiest girl in the world instead of the worst witch in the school".

- The Worst Witch Wiki

The worst witch all at sea was published in 1993 and is the only book to not include Miss Cackles School since its by the sea.

The Worst Witch Saves the Day

Mildred Hubble is returning to Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches on the first day of her third year. After meeting up with her friends, Maud Spellbody and Enid Nightshade, Mildred sees that Maud's hair is curly (she borrowed a hairstyling brush from her aunt) and they also learn that they will have a new form-teacher this year other than Miss Hardbroom.

They see in assembly that their new form-teacher will be Miss Granite (who was hired by Miss Cackle after Miss Gribble failed to show discipline and against Miss Hardbroom's advice). Miss Granite is described as being very strange-looking and having "a huge cloud of orange curls " and also wearing "enormous purple-tinted glasses and a short cape with a collar turned up so high that you couldn't see much of her face at all". Miss Granite speaks in a very high-pitched, squeaky voice that shocks everyone including Ethel Hallow.

Mildred unravels her pigtails to try out Maud's styling brush. Maud and Enid find her with her hair loose and a chunk of her hair tangled up with the brush in a huge mess. Ethel comes in and volunteers to help. However, the "help" amounts to taking a pair of scissors and chopping off both the styling brush and the messy hair.

Ethel later offers to help Mildred again in her hair predicament. She formulates a Potion that she claims will restore Mildred's hair to its rightful length. Mildred applies the potion that night and just when she is dropping off to sleep, her hair starts growing longer and longer by the minute, engulfing the whole school. Miss Hardbroom comes to investigate, states that Mildred is having "a bad hair day", manages to stop the hair growing and cuts it to its rightful length and vaporises the swathes of hair that had engulfed the whole school.

In a flying lesson, Ethel steals Tabby (who has been suffering a nervous breakdown as a result of the hair incident) and hides him on the roof in front of Miss Granite's study's window.

That night, when trying to recover Tabby, Mildred is locked in a cupboard by someone who seems to be Miss Cackle but is actually Miss Cackle's identical twin Agatha Cackle, who sneaked into the school disguised as Miss Granite. Agatha is trying to turn all the teachers and pupils into snails. Mildred manages to turn herself into an ant sneaks out of the cupboard and goes to Maud's room, where she tries unsuccessfully to wake her. Fortunately, she is able to attract Maud and Enid's attention by using ink-blots to write two notes – "HELP NOT ANT" attracting their attention to her and "FORGOT SPEL" clarifying her dilemma – and Maud and Enid turn her back into a human. Mildred tells them what is going on and, just as Agatha is about to turn Miss Cackle into a snail, Mildred turns her into a snail herself. They also bump into Miss Hardbroom, who had been away.

Miss Hardbroom suggests that Miss Cackle poses as Agatha and invites Agatha's rebellious coven in, whereupon Mildred and the others will turn them all into snails, which happens. As Mildred, Maud, and Enid go back to bed they say they want Miss Hardbroom as form-teacher. She suddenly appears in front of them and is friendly for a brief moment before strictly telling them to get back to bed with no candles on.

- The Worst Witch Wiki

The Worst Witch Saves the Day was published in 2005 and Includes Agatha Cackle disguised as Miss Granite

The Worst Witch to the Rescue

Ethel Hallow is returning to Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches for the Summer Term of her third year. Miss Hardbroom had previously set them a holiday project, but Ethel is doing exactly what Miss Hardbroom told them not to do: trying to think up a project in five minutes flat on the way back to school. Ethel spots Mildred Hubble crash-landed in a tree and manages to help her steady herself. Mildred explains to Ethel her project: a spell that can make animals talk, though it can only work on animals that fit into 25 centimetres and only lasts for two weeks. When helping Mildred out of the tree, Ethel knocks Mildred's luggage out of the tree. While Mildred tries to get Tabby, who had scampered up the tree, Ethel scoops up Mildred's project folder and art bag and her 30 coloured pencils On the way there, Mildred finds her friends Maud Spellbody and Enid Nightshade. When Mildred tells them about Ethel being nice for a change, Enid suggests she may have taken a "niceness course" during the holidays. Maud and Enid become suspicious when they catch Mildred talking to someone or something in her cat basket.

The girls find that their new form mistress is called Miss Mould, who has a "soft and kindly" voice and "short mousy hair parted in the middle and pulled into a ponytail at her neck". She is a great relief from the horrifically strict Miss Hardbroom and the extremely weird Miss Granite whom they had had the previous term. Mildred sits next to Drusilla Paddock who swaps places with Ethel after Miss Mould tells Ethel her coils are too short. Minutes later, a maraca like noise echoes through the classroom. Mildred finds that her coils have turned into five rattlesnakes. Miss Mould gets the whole class outside while Ethel stays inside and evaporates the rattlesnakes. Just then, Miss Hardbroom appears and Miss Mould explains what happened. Miss Hardbroom sends Mildred to her room and bans her from art lessons for the rest of the term. Mildred runs to her room where she figures out it must have been Ethel who turned her pot and coils into the snakes out of Jealousy. The next day, in a lesson with Miss Hardbroom, the girls are presenting their projects to the class. Ethel goes first but her project is the same as Mildred's. Mildred shouts to Miss Hardbroom that Ethel had stolen her project. Miss Hardbroom opens Mildred's project folder but finds only lots of sheets of paper with smiley faces drawn on them in different colours. Miss Hardbroom "transfers" Mildred to her room.

Later, Mildred finds that the creature inside her cat basket, a Tortoise called Speedy whom she had used her spell on, can still speak. She renames him Einstein and Einstein tells her that he overheard her conversation with Ethel inside the tree. After Mildred runs to tell Maud and Enid the good news, Mildred accidentally leaves her bedroom door open and Einstein escapes. While plodding along the corridor he is discovered by Drusilla Paddock, who takes him to Ethel's room. While Ethel and Drusilla talk, it is revealed that Ethel did indeed take Mildred's project and had also "tried out" a snake spell on Mildred's pot and coils in art. Einstein overhears everything.

When they are taking Einstein back to Mildred, Ethel eavesdrops on what Mildred is telling Maud and Enid. After discovering that Einstein can still speak and had overheard the conversation between Ethel and Mildred about the project, and that Einstein only has one more day before the spell wears off and he becomes mute forever, Ethel orders Drusilla to hide Einstein in the hollow Pine Tree outside the school gates. Einstein is put into a cardboard box that also contains a small green frog called Cyril, the animal whom Ethel had used in her demonstration. Cyril escapes and hops to Mildred's room. Cyril tells Mildred that Drusilla hid Einstein in the hollow pine tree outside the school gates and that he overheard several conversations about stealing projects and turning pots into snakes.

After releasing Cyril into the woods, Mildred gets on her broomstick and, during a violent thunderstorm, finds and rescues Einstein. On landing she is confronted by Miss Hardbroom, who takes Mildred and Einstein inside and, after hearing part of the incidents from Mildred, sets an interview with Mildred and Ethel the next morning. The next morning, Mildred goes to Miss Cackle's office where Einstein, resting in Miss Cackle's overflowing In-Tray awakes and tells Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom that he overheard the conversation between Ethel and Mildred in the tree. He also says that he heard Ethel telling Drusilla that she had tried out a snake spell on Mildred's coils and had taken Mildred's project, copied it out in her own writing, and then thrown it in the kitchen bins. Ethel sifts through the rubbish and eventually finds Mildred's tea-stained project. Miss Hardbroom makes Ethel apologise to Mildred in assembly in front of the whole year.

During a broomstick-flying lesson, Mildred reveals to Maud and Enid that Miss Cackle had provided Miss Mould's classroom with a proper kiln and craft room and she also got to keep Einstein as a pet. As the clock strikes midday, Mildred sprints into her room and hears Einstein speak for the last time in his raspy little voice ("I'm glad I belong to you"), before munching on his carrot and going silent forever.

• The Worst Witch Wiki

The Worst Witch to the Rescue was published in 2007 Drusilla Paddock holds a bigger position in the book since her brief cameo on All at Sea.

The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star

Returning from the holidays in stormy weather Mildred, Maud and Enid arrive to be told by Miss Drill that there will be a talent-displaying competition between Miss Cackle's Academy, Moonridge and Pentangle's school to win a swimming pool as the award for the best talent.

Mildred, much to her disappointment, has been chosen to work lantern monitor along with Drusilla and Ethel. On that first night Maud spots a shooting star and Mildred makes a wish followed by Miss Hardbroom who does the same reluctantly. On the first lantern monitor shift Mildred is given a holdall containing safety objects in it. When she reaches the gates to finish the job Mildred spots a stray dog, who she names Star, she takes him to her bedroom as a secret pet, much to the disapproval of Tabby.

During the weeks that follow Mildred, realising that Star is well behaved and calm on a broomstick, trains him to do various tricks with her. Maud and Enid, who realise Mildred isn't spending much time with them, soon discover about Star and are amazed by the tricks Mildred has taught him. Ethel, suspicious about Mildred hiding something in her holdall, reaches into it to discover Star was hidden in it and the both of them collapse into the lanterns igniting the costumes Form Five have made for the talent competition.

Miss Hardbroom, furious, sends Ethel and Mildred along with Star on a lead to Miss Cackle's office for what they had done then Maud and Enid explain about Star's tricks on the broom. Miss Cackle accepts the replacing talent and the next day the competition took place with the schools showing their talents. When it's Mildred's turn she amazes the judges with Star's tricks and wins the competition and the swimming pool. When the pupils go back to their school Miss Cackle allows Mildred to keep Star as her broomstick companion as a special privilege. Mildred later explains to Miss Hardbroom that she wished for Star on the shooting star at the beginning of term which doesn't annoy her as she wished on the star for them to win the competition. The story concludes with the teachers celebrating their victory and at the same time Miss Hardbroom's birthday.

- The Worst Witch Wiki

The worst witch and the wishing star was published by Scholastic UK on October 3^rd 2013.

First Prize for the Worst Witch.

Mildred is on her way to Cackles Academy for the Summer Term of her fourth year. As she flies over a circus tent, her dog, Star, hides in her luggage. She then catches up to Maud. Mildred tells Maud that she has had swimming lessons in preparation for the Academy's new swimming pool. They then talk about the Fourth Year first prizes which are awarded at the end of the year. Maud is going for the team spirit prize, while Mildred admits that she'd like to be Head Girl, and they both laugh about how unlikely it is.

Meanwhile, Ethel and Drusilla are also on their way to the Academy. Ethel is unhappy about Mildred's recent improvement in flying, thanks to her dog, Star. Drusilla tries to cheer Ethel up by saying she'll win all the prizes, and that she will definitely be Head Girl, as Every Hallow that has gone to Cackle's has been Head Girl. Drusilla then drops her hat, and when she goes down to get it, she finds a poster.

At the Academy, Miss Cackle announces that Mildred's class will be the first to use the new pool, since Mildred (and Star) won it. They get to the pool to find it full of water plants and pond life; according to Miss Hardbroom, this is so they can use it for nature studies as well as swimming.

The next day, Mildred is called to Miss Cackle's office, where Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom show her the poster that Ethel and Drusilla found- it is a lost dog poster for Star, who is actually a circus dog. Miss Hardbroom says that Star will have go back to the circus as they are his rightful owners.

In class, the fourth years learn the spell used to enchant flying broomsticks, and try it out on different kinds of brushes, such as a toothbrush, hairbrush, and dustpan and brush set. Drusilla then overhears Mildred telling Maud and Enid that she saw the circus on the way to school, and tells Ethel. In their next flying-spell class, Enid is flying on a feather duster she enchanted when Mildred is summoned to Miss Cackle's office again. Thanks to Ethel, Mr and Mrs Brilliantine, the owners of the circus, have come to collect Star, whose real name is Binky.

Without Star, Mildred has to fly with Tabby again, and her flying becomes as bad as it was before. After waking from a dream about Star, Mildred decides to visit him at the circus, and Maud and Enid decide to go with her so she doesn't get lost. They find Star at the circus, but are caught by the Brilliantines, who are kind and let them stay for breakfast. They look around the circus and meet the other animals, a fat pony and an unhappy looking seal. The Brilliantines explain that Binky (Star) is their star act, and that they would be willing to let Mildred have him back if they could find a replacement act.

Mildred keeps thinking about the animals, and a few days later, she comments that she wishes she could ask the animals how they feel about being in the circus, and Maud reminds her of the talking animal spell she did the previous year. The next morning she goes to the circus again, and casts the spell on all three animals to make them speak. The seal says her name is Selkie, and that she wants to go back to her colony at Grim Cove. The pony's name is Merlin, and he was sold when his owner went off to boarding school. Mildred promises the animals she will rescue them somehow.

She remembers what the Brillliantines said about letting her have the animals if they had a replacement act. Enid comes up with the idea to offer the Brilliantines the flying brushes in exchange for the animals. Mildred takes toothbrushes from the bathroom supply cupboard, and Enid takes a yard broom and the dustpan and brush. The Brilliantines are impressed with the brushes, and agree to trade for the animals. Mildred uses a transference spell to send Selkie the seal to Grim Cove, and take the other animals back to the Academy.

In the staffroom, Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom are discussing who should win the end of term prizes; Miss Cackle wants a prize for Art, but Miss Hardbroom thinks it's not appropriately academic, Miss Bat them comes in, dripping wet and wrapped in a towel, and claims there's a seal in the pool, and Miss Cackle wonders whether it's time for Miss Bat to retire. They then see, from the window, Mildred and her friends returning with the animals, and Miss Hardbroom materialises down to meet them.

The three girls are taken Miss Cackle's office, while a first year, Dulcie, is asked to mind the pony; It turns out that Dulcie was Merlin's former owner. Mildred hands over the letter from the Brilliantines, and the teachers realise why there is a seal in the pool, and Miss Hardbroom transfers Selkie to Grim properly this time.

Miss Cackle lets the girls go, but Miss Hardbroom wonders what Mildred gave the circus in exchange for the animals. Ethel wants to know, too, and she Drusilla visit the circus, and tell Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom about the flying brushes, but Miss Cackle says that if the circus owners are happy, then it's all fine. She then suggests to Miss Hardbroom that Mildred could be a candidate for Head Girl, But HB still favours Ethel.

At the awards ceremony, Mildred and Enid bring a crossword book to keep them occupied as they don't think they'll win anything. Ethel wins everything, except for the Team Spirit prize, which Maud wins. Mildred is so engrossed in the crosswords that she doesn't notice when she is announced as Head Girl, until Miss Hardbroom gets her attention! Mildred then chooses Enid as her deputy. As they leave, Miss Hardbroom appears to congratulate Mildred and wish her luck as Head Girl.

-The Worst Witch Fandom; First Prize for the Worst Witch.

First Prize for the Worst Witch was published by Puffin in September 2018 and is the last book in the series.

I'd heard of the worst witch early on I primary school but it took some time before I started reading them so I would have been around eight or nine when I did so. I loved the books and loved it even more when in the early 200's The Worst Witch TV show came on CITV even more. I highly appreciated the subsequent TV shows that came after too. The books whilst well written and somewhat easy to read with characters you can really get behind. I find that some of the stories could be rather repetitive, with Mildred- the protagonist being thrust into a situation where she's the only one to fix it, save herself, her classmates, friends and the school at large. I recommend the books for children between the ages of 7-12 and young adults up to 16. I give the book series 8/10.

Writer Jill Murphy was born on the 5^th of July 1949 in London and showed an interest in writing and drawing at the early age of six. Murphy started writing and illustrating her own books in primary school and started writing the worst witch whilst attending Ursline High School, Wimbledon. Murphy is best known for The Worst Witch series and The Large Family picture books, and when she was 21 years old she sent the first book of The worst Witch series...The Worst Witch off to Allison and Busby which they accepted almost Immediately and began printing. Murphy became a mother to her son Charlie in 1990 despite her marriage to Roger Michell ending in divorce. Murphy continued to nanny despite her books continuing to sell and sell well, only devoting her time to writing full time after the publication of The Worst Witch Strikes Again. My opinion of Jill Murphy is that she's an excellent, hard working and determined writer and illustrator and her hard work shows in her books.

WEBSITE BIBLIOGRAPHY:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Worst_Witch#The_Worst_Witch

https://theworstwitch.fandom.com/wiki/First_Prize_for_the_Worst_Witch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Murphy

And there you have it a decent set of books for all the ages. So we'll be leaving this here for today please leave a comment, share with others if you want or not, Don't forget We HAVE PATREON! please consider becoming a Patreon today. Friday is random blog day and remember keep it sensible in the comments all abuse will be tracked and reported to the appropriate people.

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