Mildred Hubble, positively the Worst Witch at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches is back in another very funny adventure. In The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star, Mildred makes a wish on a shooting star - and to her great surprise it comes true!

But it also spells trouble. Mildred's wish-come-true is a small dog but she has to keep him a secret from her friends, and especially the formidable Miss Hardbroom.

It's a disaster waiting to happen...and it does...!The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star launches a stunning new cover look and an appealing squarer format across the whole of the Worst Witch series which includes The Worst Witch; The Worst Witch Strikes Again; A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch; The Worst Witch all at Sea; The Worst Witch Saves the Day and The Worst Witch to the Rescue. Jill Murphy was born in London in 1949. From a very early age she was drawing and writing stories, and was already putting books together (literally, with a stapler) by the time she was six.

She went on to study at Chelsea, Croydon and Camberwell Schools of Art.

Jill worked in a children's home for four years and as a nanny for a year, before becoming a freelance writer and illustrator.

The Worst Witch stories, of which this is the seventh, are some of Puffin's most successful titles.