I recently remembered loving the 90s TV series based on this book and completed the audiobook, which I had lying around for ages. It's such a cute and delightful book. Jull Murphy manages to pack so much magic and wonder in such a short read. You end up sympathizing with all the characters, even the stern HB and wanting to go to the Miss Cackle's school.
I feel like the ending was a bit too easy for Mildred - especially since she wins casting a spell that she has only done once before poorly. But I also recognize that this is a children's book written for a specific age group, and as such has isn't meant to accommodate my taste as an adult reader.
It is also worth noting that about 90% of this book's contents have a parallel to the early Harry Potter books. All it takes is checking the publishing date, but there are still people claiming Murphy copied HP in a book published in the mid-seventies.

needed a nice relaxing 'palate cleanser' book. loved this TV series as a kid so thought I'd read the book. wish I had read this when I was young.

Halfway through the first term they were each presented with a black kitten which they trained to ride the broomsticks. The cats weren't for any practical purpose except to keep tradition going; some schools present owls instead, but it's just a matter of taste. Miss Cackle was a very traditional headmistress who did not believe in any new-fangled nonsense and trained her young witches to keep up all the customs that had been taught in her young day.

This series clearly was an inspiration for the Harry Potter series, even though J.K. Rowling never acknowledged it. (Who's surprised at this point? Not me...) So it makes sense why I loved those as a kid. And I still enjoyed it on a re-read eleven years later!
Mildred Hubble is the kind of girl who is in trouble all the time mostly not even by her fault. She and her friend Maud are quite lovable. More troubling figures are the adults - Miss Hardbroom who is basically female version of Snape (she even teaches potions...), but way more stylish in her harassment of students (she makes herself invisible when leaving the scene so they never quite know if she is gone already, she usually isn't...) AND Headmistress Cackle who is the kind one, but after closer inspection just seem to be bit of an emotional blackmailer toward the students. The fact that Mildred is honestly worried that she will be transformed into a toad when she gets into a bigger mess really tells it all to me.

Overall, some of the aspects of the story are a bit troubling after giving them some thought, but I still thought it was quick and enjoyable read with pretty illustrations, so... I'm going to read the second book soon! (I never read the whole series, so... I'm glad I decided to finally begin this endeavor...)

Edit 3.8.23: I finally, watched the 1986 movie adaptation, which I didn't saw before. I thought it was pretty faithful and kind of hilarious. Making Grand Wizard (only minor figure of the book) a superstar that every girl and teacher from the school is in love with was... mostly good decision. (It kind of took away from Miss Hardbroom character though...) Now that I think about it, he kind of reminds me Gilderoy Lockhart...
I mean... don't tell me you don't see the similarity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si5AocL1eE0
(the video sadly isn't very good quality, but there is also only lyrics version on youtube if you prefer that...)
The (now outdated) visual effects make the whole adaptation endearingly funny. I wasn't the biggest fan of the movie's ending though.

Spoiler

Grand Wizard taking Mildred on private flying lesson felt a bit... well, I thought he was a bit sleazy the whole time, so... yeah, the ending made me a bit worried. But nevermind...

I listened to the audiobook read by Gemma Arterton. This is a very quick read, managed to listen to the entire book between leaving my home and arriving at work one morning. It is about a school that teaches girls to become witches and focuses on the unlucky Mildred Hubble, for whom things always seem to go wrong. It is fairly lightweight and simple, not exploring the motivations behind why characters act the way they do, but nonetheless enjoyable for children, particularly those who struggle at school. Since it is the start of a series, hopefully characters get expanded a bit more later on.

Very cute beginning chapter book.

The very first one in the series about lovable, accident prone but ultimately triumphant Mildred Hubble, student at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches. I heart "Worst Witch"!

Très chou!