Jill Murphy's Best Witch? (The Worst Witch - Jill Murphy)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	The Worst Witch - Jill Murphy
Date:	04/01/06 (344 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nicely written, good self-illustrations

Disadvantages: Will appeal to younger children mainly.

*Introduction*
If there’s one thing that’s really good about the Christmas break it’s the chance to catch up with your reading. As ever, I seem to have several books on the go just now with one in particular taking me an age to get through. I may even review it if I ever get finished but, in the meantime, I do take the chance to pick off shorter books that take my fancy. With a whole bookstand full of children’s books courtesy of the prolific reader that is my daughter, I get to pick and choose from anyone from Enid Blyton to Jacqueline Wilson (I’m sure she has read every single book by both authors). The other day, I thought to myself that I’d finally try the eponymous Jill Murphy for lots of reasons really. This particular author has written and illustrated numerous books since “The Worst Witch” was first published in 1975. Jill Murphy has won numerous prizes and awards along the way. Her first picture book, “Peace at Last” was commended for the Kate Greenaway Medal and she was shortlisted for the same Medal for “A Quiet Night In”. More recently, “The Last Noo-noo” about a monster called Marlon, won three awards, including the Smarties Book Prize. These are just a few of the accolades the author has managed spanning the last four decades.

*The story*
Mildred Hubble is a young witch learning the ropes at Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches. She has her best friend Maud and her nemesis in the shape of Miss Hardbroom (otherwise known as “HD” by way of nickname), her form mistress. When Mildred’s class year is asked to perform at the Halloween celebrations in “the ruins of the old castle quite near the school” everything goes wrong during the flying demonstration and Mildred becomes ostracised by the rest of the school. The thing is, it wasn’t her fault as class creep, Ethel, had put a mischievous spell on the broom she’d lent to Mildred to get her own back for being turned into a pig a few days earlier. Due to report to Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle in the morning, Mildred wanders off upset into the woods during the night only to find a plot brewing by another group of witches to turn the whole school into frogs! You’ll just have to read the rest of the book to find out what happens.

*My thoughts*
The combination of self-animation and quaint witches and broomsticks can’t fail to be enchanting. Murphy writes with an endearing simplicity that appeals to the imagination although there is a limit on the age group that would take this work seriously. I suspect that the upper limit would be pre-teen and most small children would enjoy this tale. The omnipresent Harry Potter series has shown just how powerful the draw of mystical castles, spells and hobgoblins are and it’s great credit to Jill Murphy that she was penning stories like this well before JK Rowling came along.

Of course, with it appealing to younger children then the story itself is very predictable but then the little ‘uns do crave a happy ending don’t they? That whole oppressed school kid going from zero to hero has been done a million times before but it’s a format that never fails and will be used endless times in the future I’m sure. That does mean that there is no twist in the tale and it’s this aspect that limits the age range for books like this.

Mildred’s interplay with the other characters is atypically school ground type stuff with enemies being turned into pigs, Mildred being presented with a tabby kitten rather than a black one (as the school had run out of the correctly coloured mogs) and classroom experiments going wrong (sound familiar?). Yes, Mildred is the class clown with a heart of gold and a destiny to become more famous then her current image as an incompetent fool might suggest.

The only genuine air of menace in the book (other than the finale) is lent by the rather stern form mistress, Miss Hardbroom, who cuts an austere figure. In particular, on her way to the Halloween celebration “Miss Hardbroom looked particularly impressive, sitting bolt- upright with her long black hair streaming behind her. The girls had never seen her hair loose before and were amazed how much of it she could possibly scrag into that tight knot each day.” I do think that these written pen-pictures of the main characters add such a lot to the story and am always heartened when writers take the time to create an image in the mind’s eye for the reader. In this case, I simply couldn’t stop thinking of Maggie Smith playing Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter and, in many ways, this book could be seen as a mini version of the world wide hit. I’m sure the author would wish the book had grossed the same amount of money as the HP series has!

“The Worst Witch” did make it into movie format in 1986 with Diana Rigg and Tim Curry playing prominent parts, no less. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen it myself and so I can’t vouch for its credentials or tell whether it compares favourably with the book. From reviews I’ve read there is a huge pre-Harry Potter feel to the whole thing so maybe it’s worth a watch next time it hits the small screen.

*Summary*
Mildred Hubble and the "Worst Witch" books retain their charm today even 30 years after having been first written. A super read for younger children keen to use their imagination and discover the darker world of witches and spells, a parent can’t really go wrong in buying material like this. There’s absolutely nothing to fear in the story line and it follows the traditional format of heroine overcoming the odds to win like so many have done before. I’m sure I’ll be visiting my daughter’s book collection again real soon (with her permission, of course) but, in the meantime, I really must return to my day job of finishing a certain instalment from the Dark Tower series.

Thanks for reading

Marandina

Notes
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Pages ~ 112
ISBN: 0141319623
Published by Puffin Books
Available for £3.74 from Amazon although you can get copies from Amazon Market Place and Ebay from 1p!
More info about the author at: http://www.walkerbooks.co.uk/Jill-Murphy

Summary: Overview of the book