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.
A Wizard of Earthsea
"A Wizard of Earthsea" was first published in 1968 by Parnassus Press in Berkeley, a year before "The Left Hand of Darkness", Le Guin's watershed work. It was a personal landmark for Le Guin, as it represented her first attempt at writing for children; she had written only a handful of other novels and short stories prior to its publication. The book was also her first attempt at writing fantasy, rather than science-fiction. "A Wizard of Earthsea" was the first of Le Guin's books to receive widespread critical attention, and has been described as her best known work, as part of the Earthsea series. The book has been released in numerous editions, including an illustrated Folio Society edition released in 2015. It was also translated into a number of other languages. An omnibus edition of all of Le Guin's Earthsea works was released on the 50th anniversary of the publication of "A Wizard of Earthsea" in 2018.