First Prize for the Worst Witch

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

by Jill Murphy

Interest age: 7 to 11
Reading age: 8+

Published by Puffin, 2018

Adventure
Chapter books
Coming-of-age
Funny

About this book

Although Mildred Hubble has made huge progress since her early days at Miss Cackle’s Academy, she still has an ambition left. What she’d like more than anything is to be chosen as Head Girl. But for 200 years, that honour has gone to one of her arch-enemy Ethel’s family, so Mildred’s chances seem slim.

In the meantime, there’s plenty of time for Ethel to be meaner than ever, for Mildred’s heart to be broken, for her animal-speaking spell to come in very useful and for trouble to follow her around as it always does!

Mildred’s experiences of friendship and learning through her mistakes are familiar ones, which make her stories accessible and relevant to newly independent young readers.

With its gentle humour, engaging characters and simple yet satisfying plot, this is the final instalment in the hugely successful Worst Witch series and brings the story of Mildred Hubble’s schooldays to an end.

About the author

Jill Murphy's books sell in their hundreds of thousands. Perhaps best known for her classic Worst Witch stories, which she started writing when she was fifteen, she is also a hugely successful picture book author and illustrator. Peace At Last was her first picture book and was commended in the 1980 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal. She went on to win the Smarties Prize for The Last Noo-Noo. Jill lives in Cornwall with her son.