When was the first Worst Witch published?
The Worst Witch
The Worst Witch is a series of children's books written and illustrated by Jill Murphy. The series are primarily boarding school and fantasy stories, with eight books already published. The first one, "The Worst Witch", was published in 1974 by Allison & Busby, and the most recent one, "First Prize for the Worst Witch", was published in 2018 by Puffin Books, the current publisher of all the series. The books have become some of the most successful titles on the Young Puffin paperback list and have sold more than 4 million copies.
List of The Worst Witch characters
Maud Spellbody is first introduced as Mildred's best friend. She breaks off her friendship with Mildred in "The Worst Witch Strikes Again" after growing jealous of Mildred's apparent friendship with the new girl, Enid Nightshade. She later reverts her friendship to Mildred after Ethel locks them in a store cupboard and makes friends with Enid. She is short and chubby with glasses and hair worn in bunches (in A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch she wore pigtails and in "The Worst Witch Saves the Day" she has curly bunches instead of straight ones). She is fiercely loyal to Mildred and Enid and has stood up to Ethel many times, most notably in "The Worst Witch All at Sea" where she reprimands Ethel about eavesdropping on a conversation between her and Enid about Mildred acting strangely.