The worst witch

This is the first of 8 books written by a witty writer. We find it much more satisfying than the windy, overlong series that was so popular a few years ago. The prose has a light touch, the illustrations charming. Our only criticism is that this edition has peculiar layout, with illustrations failing to match up with the prose and odd gaps leave many empty spaces on the pages. To us it seems people have forgotten how to design a book. If not for that, we would have given it 5 stars on content alone.

This was a favorite of mine as a child, and now it is a favorite book of my daughter's. Whimsical, short and sweet, and very much relatable as I was an awkward child myself.

I can see why it is widely believed that much of Hogwarts came from this little book. A sweet little story. 2nd grade reading level, give or take a year.

I recommend it to young readers who also are fellow love Harry Potter fans and all things magical, Mildred is funny, kind, and relatable.

Read this when I was a teacher . Got it for my granddaughter , am sure she will love it as a holiday read

Bought this for my 12 year daughter to read. She really liked this book. She said, it was a funny book. She also liked how the witch was the underdog, underestimated, because she was not very good at being a witch. However, there is a surprise that I won't spoil for readers. Good book and my daughter wants to read the other books soon. Definitely recommended by this mom.

I think this story is a little too simplistic even for a child’s reading levels. There are some vocabulary words that would have to be explained, but it could be a little more interesting. I think it has a good story outline with something missing in between.

Excelente libro

I bought this as a Christmas present for my three-year-old granddaughter. It will have to be read to her, but her mommy reads her a lot anyway. I am looking forward to seeing if the kid likes it.

Comprei esse livro depois que assisti a série na Netflix, é infantil, mas muito legal!

Excellent book for kids starting to read on their own !

This review is specifically for the Colour Gift Edition.I won't go into the (fantastic) story, because presumably most people buying this edition are already familiar with The Worst Witch and want to treasure the anniversary. Instead I'll go into what makes this so wonderfully special (and it is!).First of all, it's been published to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of The Worst Witch, so it's a lovely hardback book that's nice and solid to hold. It's larger sized than the paperbacks (I'd say something like a quarter to a third bigger? Apologies for the loose approximation there), and printed in full-colour on great quality white thick paper, rather than the course thin yellowed paper that paperbacks are (understandably) printed on.When I pre-ordered the book (a long time ago now), the paragraph describing it stated that only six illustrations were in full-colour. I can see that description has been changed now to state the entire book is in full-colour, which is good because I can confirm this is true. Every illustration from the original has been updated and wonderfully rendered in coloured pencils - along with brand new illustrations - and really this feels like the DEFINITIVE version of the Worst Witch. Whilst I've always loved the original black and white illustrations, the atmosphere that the coloured illustrations add can't be glossed over - suddenly Mildred's world feels a whole lot more real.As I stated earlier, the paper is a gorgeous thick white glossy print stock, which means you don't get that issue of the other sides of pages showing through (admittedly that's a pet peeve of mine when reading, it's very distracting), and also means that the illustrations themselves really get to pop. It comes with a lovely red page-keeping ribbon - red like Mildred's school sash!I'm not sure how well the book will stand up to repeated handling mind you. Having worked with many paper stocks before, and also owning a good collection of lovely printed artbooks and colour illustrated novels, I'm very very aware with how carefully glossy paper stock needs to be looked after. Even keeping your hands squeaky clean, glossy books will tend to pick up your natural skin oils anyway and end up with fingerprints all over them. They won't remain in any perfect state. This isn't an issue to me personally - I'm a collector in a sense, but a collector of things I enjoy, and I'll keep reading through my books over and over for probably however long my life lasts no matter how many fingerprints they get on them. ;) However, depending on your reasons for picking up this book, it may be an issue to you. You'll want to be pretty careful with it if you're trying to keep it in perfect condition, and if you have younger children reading it, you may need to encourage them to be just a little bit more careful with it than usual - just to be sure it lasts.This book was already great, but the colour illustrations really elevate it. I only regret that it's unlikely the other books will receive this treatment, because now I've experienced the original this way I very much want the other six books in colour (especially the most recent two, which were amazing). I think the only nitpick that I could possibly come up with is that I wish the front cover had been given the full-page illustration treatment to match the atmosphere of the interior? But I recognise that there's a branding conflict there, and there's an established style for Worst Witch covers.All I can really say is; if you're a fan of The Worst Witch, THIS is the book to get!So, to sum up:Positives:- I'd say confidently that this really is the definitive edition of the original text. The illustrations are gorgeous in full-colour, and though there was nothing at all wrong with the black and white ones, these ones really do take the book to 'the next level' as it were - they flesh out the atmosphere greatly, and lend a depth that black and white can only hint at.- The printing quality is fantastic, and in general it has a great feel as a finished product. The ribbon bookmark, the gold foil printing on the dust-jacket, the larger size and of course the beautifully printed pages themselves really make it feel like something to treasure.Negatives:- This isn't really a negative, but more of a minor concern: because of the paper stock, if you want the book to stay in good condition, you'll need to be more careful with it than usual. This might be an issue to some people/children, because it lends itself much less to casual reading than the paperback - I recommend having a copy of the paperback handy too for that reason.

The first story in the series, and now I'm reading them all again because my five year-old daughter loves them. My kids are quite sensitive to violence or danger in stories because we don't have a tv (we got rid of it so they wouldn't be desensitised, & it has certainly worked!), but these stories are perfect adventures without ever being scary for kids. My 3 year old listens along fine (tho I think he enjoys the cuddle more than the story!). Recommended!