Though you might have already fallen in love with the Telly Series - I strongly advise you to get - borrow - nick a copy of the books... as they are really first rate. True, they may have been written for kids - but so have been other great classics of literature, such as Alice or Winnie the Pooh.. Jill Murphy used some of her own experiences at school when writing those books -and they are first rate. Miss Hardbroom is even more wicked, Mildred is even more clumsy and Ethel even more evil  - and all books have been illustrated by Jill Murphy herself - and if you´ve seen the Telly series, then you will agree with me that the TV characters look like the book illustrations come to live... apart from Miss Drill and Ethel.

The four volumes - there is even a fifth, The Worst Witch Spelling Book, is only available at Puffins and contains some excerpts from the other volumes, along with lots of illustrations and spell tasks for youngish witches - cover Mildred´s first two years at Cackle´s Academy - Vol. 1 and 2 covering the first year and vol. 3 and 4 covering the second one. There are some distinctive differences to the TV series: Miss Bat and Miss Drill hardly appear in the books, so do Griselda and Fenella - in fact, Griselda appears once, but only as a very timid third year who is tricked into getting tied up by Mildred so she can take her place in the Halloween display (as opposite to the TV series, where Mil ties up Drusilla). Also the fourth volume, displaying Mildred´s visit to the recently freed wizard Rowan-Webb, is set not at a riverside retreat, but at the seaside - and there is no dragon lord to start with...