First Prize for the Worst Witch

June 15, 2020
At the end of Year Four at Miss Cackle's Academy, prizes are awarded--will Mildred and her friends win anything? Heading into Summer Term, Mildred has high hopes: She secretly hopes to be chosen as next year's head girl. But it's unlikely because, as pal Maud points out, "if there's a Hallow in the school, it always goes to them, and we've got Ethel Hallow." Meanwhile, villainous Ethel wants to make sure she also claims the best-flying prize and finds a way to attack the key ingredient to Mildred's flying success: Mildred's dog, Star, who became Mildred's broom companion in The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star (2013). Learning that Star is a missing circus dog, Ethel brings this to the authorities' attention, and Mildred tearfully surrenders Star. When Mildred and friends visit the circus to make sure Star's happy, they learn that, though none of the circus animals are mistreated, they are not happy, either. The girls engineer a swap of magical tools for the animals. The nostalgia-inducing art and classic British children's story feel mesh exceptionally well with the circus storyline's subtle messaging about alternatives to animals in circuses--and it's done so without casting the circus owners as villains and without judging circus fans. Even bully Ethel and her henchgirl, Drusilla, receive occasional flashes of sympathy--but not so much as to take away from Mildred's triumph over them! In illustrations, the characters are depicted as white. Easily meets the series' high standards. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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