The Worst Witch (1974)

Originally published in 1974, this story of a young girl away at a witch's academy has, together with its sequels, spawned both a television film and a television series, and is also often cited (much to Jill Murphy's chagrin, apparently) as an influence on the subsequent Harry Potter series. Mildred Hubble is the eponymous "worst witch," a first-year student at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, who is always getting into trouble of one kind or another. Clumsy in her flying lessons, forgetful in her potions classes, her never-ending mistakes and crises make her instructors wonder whether she will even pass the Witch's Higher Certificate, when the time comes. Ethel Hallow, by contrast, is the sort of student who gets everything right - top in all of her classes, an accomplished flyer, and teacher's pet - and when Mildred alienates her, the real trouble begins...

I enjoyed reading The Worst Witch, which (sorry Ms. Murphy, but the comparison is simply unavoidable) put me strongly in mind of J.K. Rowling's similar work. It wasn't just the broad strokes of the story - a young person attending a magical academy - that felt familiar, but some of specific elements as well, from the irascible dark-haired potions instructor (Miss Hardbroom here, Snape in Harry Potter) with whom the protagonist is in conflict, to the episode in which Mildred's broom is enchanted during the Hallowe'en display, which was so reminiscent of the episode in the first Harry Potter novel, in which Harry's broom is hexed during a Quidditch match. This similarity of theme and incident was really quite interesting, as it allows the reader to place the celebrated Harry Potter in an existing tradition of fantastic school stories, while also presenting its own take on the theme. Leaving these issues aside, this was an engaging, albeit slight tale - at 107 pages, I would describe it as sitting somewhere between a beginner's chapter-book and a proper middle-grade novel - with an entertaining story, an appealing heroine, and charming artwork (done by Murphy herself). Despite my recommendation line - I do think this would make an excellent selection for the young reader not yet prepared for the Harry Potter books - I believe that this classic deserves to be read for its own sake. ( )

I never read these books as a child, but I saw a firend had one and they looked great for procrastination, so I gave it a try. I think it's really cute! Mildred is very sweet. The writing isn't very advanced as this is more of a children's/YA book, but it's still so much fun! ( )

Read a long, long, long time ago and watched the series on ITV later... they were quite fun little reads from what I remember, would love to read them again if I see them going for 2nd hand. ( )

Mildred Hubble is in her first year at Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches, and she is definitely the WORST student the Academy has ever seen. She can’t even manage to do even the simplest spells correctly. Her new kitten doesn’t sit on her broomstick (and don’t even get me started on her broomstick).

Mildred hits rock bottom when she accidentally turns her very least favourite person in the entire world into a pig. Will The Worst Witch ever be able to redeem herself? Find out by reading the first in Jill Murphy’s magical classic. ( )

This book is very interesting to me!
I like not only the story but also the illustration.
Mildred is nice. She really encouraged me!
Tabby is cute! It makes for the nice accent. ( )