The Worst Witch Strikes Again: 4

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When asked where her stories came from, she always said that she did not need to search for stories: everything she wrote about came from within her. That was truest in The Worst Witch, which she wrote while still at school and finished while still in her teens. I wasn't all that impressed with the writing style as it seemed a bit... amateurish? But then I found out in the afterword that Jill Murphy was only 18 when she wrote it, and I think this is fantastic for one so young. It's certainly better than anything I could do when I was 18. I think this is a great chapter book for kids just getting into them. It's cute, and it gets my recommendation. 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 vapourises the swathes of hair that had engulfed the whole school. For the creation of new girl Mildred Hubble and the way she did not fit in, and particularly for the strict structure of the school and the disagreeable character of the teacher Miss Hardbroom, Jill drew directly on her own experiences at the Ursuline Convent school, in Wimbledon, south-west London, where she was sent when she was 11. It was an academic school where, as Jill described it, she was “unpigeonholeable”. The Worst Witch Strikes Again, written and illustrated by Jill Murphy, is reissued with exciting new branding and format. The Worst Witch has become one of Puffin's bestselling children's series for readers aged 5 - 9 years.

The Worst Witch Strikes Again by Jill Murphy, one of a much-loved, long-running series about a troubled pupil of magic school, Mildred Hubble. Photograph: Greg Balfour Evans/Alamy Mildred is aided by her best friend Maud Moonshine who is far more down to Earth than her friends, although often finds herself caught up in their antics. Another one of Mildred's friends is Enid Nightshade, a prankster who is even more adept at getting into trouble than Mildred is. Jill Murphy started putting books together (literally with a stapler), when she was six. The Worst Witch was first published in 1974 and this much-loved classic has been enjoyed by readers for more than 30 years. Jill Murphy also written and illustrated several award-winning picture books for younger children. Me encantó que la escuela fuera un castillo con sus torreones, y sí, encontré muchas similitudes en cuanto ideas con la posterior obra de Rowling, aunque lógicamente las historias en sí no tienen mucho que ver.a b c Vincent, Alice (31 October 2014). "An oral history of The Worst Witch....The Worst Witch was only published because of a party". The Telegraph. For those like myself who went to primary school in the 1990s, The Worst Witch books were probably the closest thing we ever got to Harry Potter. Not that we should feel deprived in any way, as The Worst Witch books were and still are enjoyable reads. When it was no longer realistic that Mildred would still be at school, the series relocated her to a magical university in Cambridge and was retitled Weirdsister College: The Further Adventures of the Worst Witch and saw the return of Felicity Jones as a reinvented Ethel Hallow. Orme, Steve (26 October 2020). "Worst Witch wins Olivier for Northampton theatre" . Retrieved 28 February 2022. She began making her first books when she was six and had created a library of handmade books to share with her friends by the time she was 11. Successful at her primary school, Jill floundered at secondary school and left at 16 to do art foundation courses at Chelsea then Croydon art schools, before moving to Camberwell School of Art, where she lasted only a term.

Publication of The Worst Witch finally came about, as Jill Murphy recalled, "thanks to a series of coincidences involving me spending time in Ghana, and a friend meeting Margaret Busby (Ghanaian herself, and considering starting a children's list for her imprint) at a publishers' party in London". [6] [8] [10] The Worst Witch was finally published in 1974, when Murphy was 24, by the small independent company Allison and Busby.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.