Diary of an Accidental Witch: Stage Fright

By Author / Illustrator

Honor and Perdita Cargill, Katie Saunders

Genre

Fantasy

Age range(s)

Publisher

Little Tiger Press Group

ISBN

9781788956086

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

03-08-2023

Synopsis

Friday 18th February
Binxy has just reminded us that we have to put on this play in front of the WHOLE SCHOOL and now we're a mixture of excited and SCARED!

When Bea's class is tasked with putting on the school play, she can't wait to get started. Her friends are nothing if not dramatic, and now her magic is getting stronger, perhaps she can use that to create some special effects!

But before long the drama takes over the school - with overenthusiastic set design, nervous performers and transformation mishaps. It's time for Bea and her friends to put their teamwork to the test and put on an unFROGettable performance...

A perfect potion of magic and mischief, DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WITCH is THE WORST WITCH meets TOM GATES. Praise for Diary of an Accidental Witch: "Great fun!" - iPaper. "Full of magical mayhem!" - BookTrust. "A magical adventure that will touch your heart and tickle your funny bone." - Maz Evans, author of Who Let the Gods Out. "A brilliant, hilarious story!" - Emma Carroll, author of The Week at World's End.

Reviews

A boisterous return to the diary of Bea Black in Book 5 of this lively, fun series about an 11-year-old aspiring witch and life in Little Spellshire at the School for the Extraordinary Arts. It is all high energy excitement and drama as the young witches in training are about to stage a school production of Hansel and Gretel; well, a version that is nothing like the fairy tale that the ordinary world grows up with. No, this is the, 'real' story of Hansel and Gretel, as told by witches.

Horrible Hansel and Ghastly Gretel are on a greedy gorging path of destruction with the witch's homely gingerbread cottage in their sights. While Bea and her spell-casting thespian friends have no shortage of enthusiasm and ambition for their acting debut, of course, there are major magical mishaps ahead (top tip: don't cast a 'grow fluffmallow' spell to create a landscape of stage snow unless you know how to cast a spell to STOP it, too!)

The plot is delightful and charming and is just a pleasure to read. With method acting being directed by director, Winnie, Bea finds herself dedicated to her role as A Worried Frog. With her trust sidekick, pet frog Stan, she channels her inner green amphibian - but this is witch school so, with enchantments and transformation spells, Bea's mantra of 'Be The Frog' might end up becoming more literal than she expects…

This series is utterly captivating and Bea's narrative voice is earnest, engaging and welcomingly informal and relatable. There is joyous escapism in these sparkling, hilarious and heart-warming books.

240 pages / Reviewed by Jennifer Caddick, teacher