Customer Reviews

THE WORST WITCH (YOUNG PUFFIN STORY BOOKS)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a fantastic book! If you are a Harry Potter fan, then you definatly need to read this. Our heroine, Mildred, is in her first year at Miss Cackles Academy for witches. She tries hard, but everything she does seems to go wrong! When she is almost expelled for ruining the halloween festival and discracing her school, Mildred runs away, but runs into a group of Witches plotting trouble for the Academy! Mildred saves the day and comes out shining! This is a must-have story for young children, But don't let the size of the book fool you, This is a great read for ALL ages! Jill Murphy truly has weaved magic.

What if you were the worst at an assignment? Would your friends stick by you? How would your enemies react? What if you were part of a group presentation for an important person? Could you handle the pressure? These are some of the dilemmas faced by Mildred Hubble in a delightful book called The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy.

Mildred is clumsy, but it's her failure at riding a broom and performing spells that land her into the most trouble at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches. One day, Mildred and her best friend Maud are creating a laughter potion. All is going well until Mildred incorrectly remembers that the potion should be green and needs pondweed. When the two girls drink their potion, instead of laughing like the rest of their classmates, their heads disappear. This fiasco lands them in the office of the headmistress, a place Mildred seems all too familar with.

Will friend Maud stick by Mildred through this new disaster? Will their enemy Ethel forgive Maud's mistakes when they affect her? Perhaps more dire, can Mildred handle the pressure of performing a broomstick formation with her classmates when the chief magician visits? To find out, check out this episodic and charming book.

The book has a couple huge strengths. Jill Murphy immerses readers completely into the culture of a young witch at an academy with her references to: bats and owls, black clothes and black cats, pointed hats and broomsticks, potion laboratories and cauldrons, and spells and charms. I also adore Murphy's conversational style. I feel as if she is sitting in a family chair or a teacher desk and surrounded by children when she uses phrases like: "so that if you glanced up the mountain you probably would not notice the building at all"; ""not that there was anywhere to go if you were allowed to go out"; "To tell you the truth...."; and ""Do you remember....?"

The book also has a few flaws. Mildred Hubble seems like a rather old-fashioned and unsuitable name for a young heroine, even one who is a witch. The point of view switched once inexplicably from Mildred to Ethel. There's also the matter of Ethel's cat. The school runs out of black ones and so Mildred ends up with a gray one. Moreover, because of it's unexpected color, Mildred doesn't know what to name it, although by the end of the book she might have decided upon Tabby. With all the fuss about the cat, you'd think it would play a large role in Mildred's life but it doesn't. And with all the fuss about its name, you'd think it would end up with a fancier one. Last, around the middle of the book, Mildred decides to runaway. Why she returns and what happens upon her return seems somewhat simplistic, but then this is a book for younger readers and of only one hundred pages.

The Worst Witch is a quick and funny read. The book proved so popular it inspired a television show that ran for four years and inspired two spin-offs. The book is also the first in a series, of which four hundred million copies have been sold. What an amazing success story for an author who started writing this book at age fifteen, but a deserved one for the book is realistic to school experiences of anyone and an enjoyable read.

The book is a wonderful story about a little witch who can't seem to learn her spells as well as the other pupils in Miss Cackle's academy. It is a touching book because although the characters are witches, good morals are upheld, and the pupils' teachers are strict but fair. In spite of her suffering at her enemy classmate's hands, the main character Mildred decides to do the right thing and becomes a heroine. It was a pleasure to scan this book for Bookshare's children's books.

This book was about Miss Cackle's Acadamey for Witches and the witches who go to the school. Some of the teacher's names are Miss Bat and Miss Hardbroom. The head mistress's name is Miss Cackle. I would like to be a witch at Miss Cackle's. I would like to be a friend of Mildred's. I liked the book because the pictures made the book more interesting . The front cover was also interesting because it showed pictures from the TV show. The book made me feel like a real witch. I also liked the book because Mildred is so clumsy and has some pretty neat adventures. I wish I could have adventures like her. You should read this book.

The Worst Witch was an extraordinary book. There was suspense. There was a mean teacher. There was a mean girl. There was a nice prinipal, and there was Mildred Hubble, who can't even ride her broom without crashing. There was Mildred's best friend, Maud, and so much more. I think it deserves 5 stars. I can't wait to read another Worst Witch Book. By Jessica

I think the Worst Witch by Jill Murphy was interesting because of the suspense between Mildred, Ethel, Maud, Ms. Hardbroom, and Ms. Cackle. Also, there was a lot of emotion between the characters. I think it deserves 3 stars because I think it needs a couple more characters and more details. By Nathaniel

The Worst Witch was an amazing book! After every little paragraph I got more interested in the book. It was exciting for me when all of the witches were fighting with each other. The main character was Mildred who was very nice, but not good at spells and stuff like that. If you want to learn more about the book, read it! If there was a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 5 stars because it is such a good book and very interesting!
By Chloe

I thought it was a good book because I like when stories have happy endings and it had one. I think it should have 4 stars because it was good, but not perfect. I thought it wasn't perfect because at the end it didn't tell you what happened to Ethel. By Dylan

This book was exciting. I liked this book because Mildred was doing so badly at her spells, and then she did so well and saved the whole school. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars becasue a perfect book is a comedy and has a lot of suspense and dialogue. This book had suspense and dialogue, but no comedy.
By Matthew

Midred Hubble . . even her name brims with magic! She's a terrible witch, though not as bad as the title of the book makes her out to be. Her spells always go wrong but shes always lovable in her failure. I don't want to give away the plot simply becausse whoever you are, you must read this book! No matter what age you are, i bet you'll love it.

Hi! I'm Joseph, I'm 13. If you've ever raed this book then you know that this book is not boring, (like a ten year old reader said), Ilove Harry potter! You can see if you like it to by checking out the audio CD from you're local library, for free! But I'd recommend buying or borrowing the book. You'll love it, I know I do, and I'm a picky reader, really, really, really picky! And I've read Year:1 and 3. I'm buying Year 2 soon, and I'm geting Year 4 for my birthday next month, and I can't wait! Well, I hope this review was helpfull to you. Bye.

The book was about a witch called Mildred . Mildred was in a lot of trouble most of the time. Miss Hardbroom is Mildreds teacher ,she is allways picking on Mildred becauseshe is not very good at doing spells.Miss Cackle is the head of the school.Mildred is allways out side Miss Cackles office . Mildred has black hair ,she is tall and thin. Mildred has a best freind calld Maud. I enjoyed the book but it was a little to youg for me. END