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The Worst Witch Saves the DayJill Murphy
The Worst Witch Saves the Day
by Jill Murphy
A new teacher takes against Mildred entirely, and the school cat has gone missing at exactly the wrong moment.
A story about children and witches and wizards, funny and warm in tone. We would put it with children of 7–9, and at a reading age of about 8 for reading alone.
Nothing flagged
We have not flagged any content in this one that a parent would usually want warning about.
Part of a series
This is book 3 of the The Worst Witch series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.
Our take on this book
Mildred Hubble, the well-meaning disaster of Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, is up against a new form-mistress who has decided to dislike her intensely, and the school cat has chosen the worst possible moment to disappear. Jill Murphy's long-running series is boarding-school comfort reading with broomsticks: gentle, funny, and squarely on the side of the child who tries hard and gets it wrong through no real fault of her own. This later adventure has the reassuring rhythms of the earlier ones — an unfair teacher, a misunderstanding, Mildred coming good in the end — with short chapters and the author's own soft pencil illustrations. Nothing here is frightening; the magic is cosy rather than dark. For a seven- to nine-year-old, particularly one who worries about being in trouble, Mildred is a hugely sympathetic heroine, and this is a warm, easy read for a child growing into longer stories.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
The Worst WitchJill Murphy
The Worst Witch All at SeaJill Murphy
The Worst Witch Strikes AgainJill Murphy
Mr MajeikaHumphrey Carpenter
Charlie Changes Into a ChickenSam Copeland
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
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