First Prize for the Worst Witch

Jill Murphy's First Prize for the Worst Witch is a funny, warm school story for 7 year olds about Mildred Hubble losing the little dog who made her good at flying.

What happens

It's Summer Term at Miss Cackle's Academy and Mildred is nearly at the end of Fourth Year. On the last day there's a prize-giving called Fourth Year Firsts, where next year's Head Girl gets announced too.

Mildred secretly fancies being Head Girl. When she tells Maud, Maud laughs so hard she nearly falls off her broomstick (and Mildred ends up giggling just as badly).

Her flying has got MUCH better since she found Star, a stray dog, last term. He rides on her broom and he's a natural acrobat. Ethel is not happy about that at all.

So when Drusilla finds an old lost dog poster pinned to a tree in the forest, Ethel knows exactly who should see it. Star belongs to a small travelling circus. And his real name is Binky!

It's the eighth Worst Witch book and there's a lot of feeling in this one. Mildred cries properly when Star has to go back. Then Tabby the cat is back on her broomstick and just as terrified as ever. Soon she's at the bottom of the class again.

There's still plenty of silliness though. Fourth Years learn a spell to make anything with bristles fly. Enid's runaway brush tries to sweep the sleeping bats off the picture rail. Mildred flies Enid's hamster on a hairbrush (Enid's been hiding him in her room), and he clings on with his eyes shut.

Then the three friends sneak out at dawn to check on Star. Enid brings a bat-nav, which is a long-eared bat that leads you to any town you name. Are they allowed? Of course not.

Getting caught at the circus in their pyjamas leads to the best fib in the book. Maud's aunt dropped them off on her way to the hairdresser's. At six in the morning. For a perm!

It's worth knowing that the circus animals aren't having a great time. Star is shut in a cramped crate between shows and there's a sad seal in a tiny murky pool. If your reader feels strongly about animals being looked after properly, they'll be very much on Mildred's side.

Mildred, Maud and Enid are as loyal to each other as ever, and Miss Hardbroom still seems to hear every whisper from the other end of the room.

What to read next

To see where Mildred and her friends started, try the first Worst Witch book. It opens halfway through her very first term, on the night before the new witches are given their kittens.