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Spell Me a Witch
Belladonna was close enough now to see that at every window, every door, small figures appeared and reappeared with buckets which they emptied at frantic speed. The Tower had the appearance of some huge and elaborate fountain...
Like many other apprentices in magic, the students at the Academy for Young Witches had tried to employ the Bucket-and-Water Spell to halve their labours and like many before them, they had obviously let the spell get out of hand! It's up to the headmistress, Belladonna Agrimony, to straighten things out.
- GenresFiction
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
About the author
Barbara Willard
102 books24 followersBarbara Mary Willard was a British novelist best known for children's historical fiction. Her "Mantlemass Chronicles" is a family saga set in 15th to 17th-century England. For one chronicle, The Iron Lily (1973), she won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a book award judged by panel of British children's writers.
Willard was born in Brighton, Sussex on 12 March 1909, the daughter of the Shakespearean actor Edmund Willard and Mabel Theresa Tebbs. She was also the great-niece of Victorian-era actor Edward Smith Willard. The young Willard was educated at a convent school in Southampton.
Because of her family connections, Willard originally went on the stage as an actress and also worked as a playreader, but she was unsuccessful and abandoned acting in her early twenties. She wrote numerous books for adults before she turned to children's literature.
Very little about the author was written during her lifetime, because of her private nature. She died at a nursing home in Wivelsfield Green, East Sussex, on 18 February 1994.
The Grove of Green Holly (1967), which was a story about a group of 17th century travelling players who were hiding in a forest in Sussex from Oliver Cromwell's soldiers, spawned her most famous work, the Mantlemass series (1970–1981) including her Guardian Prize-winning book. Some other books were Hetty (1956), Storm from the West (1963), Three and One to Carry (1964), and Charity at Home (1965).
One of her last books, The Forest - Ashdown in East Sussex, published by Sweethaws Press in 1989, gives a detailed account of Ashdown Forest. In the introduction to the book, Christopher Milne notes that Willard had moved from her home on the Sussex Downs to the edge of Ashdown Forest in 1956 and that her new surroundings had provided the inspiration and setting for ten of her children's historical novels (eight in the Mantlemass series and two others). It is evident by her own account in her book that she actively involved herself in the affairs of the forest. She was a representative of the forest Commoners elected to the forest's Board of Conservators in 1975, and she remained in that capacity for ten years. She tells how she was later heavily involved in the fundraising campaign which enabled East Sussex County Council to purchase the forest in 1988, enabling it to remain as a place of beauty and tranquility open to the public.
Willard was born in Brighton, Sussex on 12 March 1909, the daughter of the Shakespearean actor Edmund Willard and Mabel Theresa Tebbs. She was also the great-niece of Victorian-era actor Edward Smith Willard. The young Willard was educated at a convent school in Southampton.
Because of her family connections, Willard originally went on the stage as an actress and also worked as a playreader, but she was unsuccessful and abandoned acting in her early twenties. She wrote numerous books for adults before she turned to children's literature.
Very little about the author was written during her lifetime, because of her private nature. She died at a nursing home in Wivelsfield Green, East Sussex, on 18 February 1994.
The Grove of Green Holly (1967), which was a story about a group of 17th century travelling players who were hiding in a forest in Sussex from Oliver Cromwell's soldiers, spawned her most famous work, the Mantlemass series (1970–1981) including her Guardian Prize-winning book. Some other books were Hetty (1956), Storm from the West (1963), Three and One to Carry (1964), and Charity at Home (1965).
One of her last books, The Forest - Ashdown in East Sussex, published by Sweethaws Press in 1989, gives a detailed account of Ashdown Forest. In the introduction to the book, Christopher Milne notes that Willard had moved from her home on the Sussex Downs to the edge of Ashdown Forest in 1956 and that her new surroundings had provided the inspiration and setting for ten of her children's historical novels (eight in the Mantlemass series and two others). It is evident by her own account in her book that she actively involved herself in the affairs of the forest. She was a representative of the forest Commoners elected to the forest's Board of Conservators in 1975, and she remained in that capacity for ten years. She tells how she was later heavily involved in the fundraising campaign which enabled East Sussex County Council to purchase the forest in 1988, enabling it to remain as a place of beauty and tranquility open to the public.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 23, 2016
Originally published in 1979 (long before many of the other similar themed book), this concerns a
girls only school. There are only nine or ten students but there is another school in Scotland. They don't use wands but say spells in mock Latin/Italian including a door opening spell. Young witches aren't "born magic" like so many other stories. Young witches are from large families "where they won't be missed." Witches are taught to be wicked but these witches are not very wicked. The headmaster is a senior witch who serves as the only teacher but she has an assistant and there is also a cook who "magics" up delicious food. It's a light-weight story.
girls only school. There are only nine or ten students but there is another school in Scotland. They don't use wands but say spells in mock Latin/Italian including a door opening spell. Young witches aren't "born magic" like so many other stories. Young witches are from large families "where they won't be missed." Witches are taught to be wicked but these witches are not very wicked. The headmaster is a senior witch who serves as the only teacher but she has an assistant and there is also a cook who "magics" up delicious food. It's a light-weight story.
January 1, 2026
It was a fun read. It took me 16-17 months to complete it but was so proud of myself that I finally finished it by the end of August. It was my second read of the year after a couple of years, reading block. Now, the paperback is with a friend's friend cause they asked for my recommendation to deal with their reading block and I really hope it'll help them as well. I want to explore more from this author.
July 19, 2021
Loved this book. Interesting magic, a slightly different slant on schools for witches and an ending that had me laughing in delight.
July 14, 2008
One of my all-time favorites as a kid.
April 27, 2009
good old-fashioned children's writing. just what the doctor ordered.
January 16, 2018
I have a million books i want to read, but on a walk yesterday, I saw this in a little free library in my neighborhood and felt the urge to read it immediately. Maybe my standards are lower with little free libraries?
It's a cute British story from the '70s about a small witchcraft academy for girls. This is no Hogwarts (there are only nine students, a headmistress and her assistant), but I wouldn't be surprised at all if J.K. Rowling read this when she was young. There's even a brief scene where someone suggests the academy start accepting boy wizards, but for some reason, they all think it's a bad idea.
BTW: The cover image gives away the ending of a key scene. So, um... don't look at the cover if you want to read it??
It's a cute British story from the '70s about a small witchcraft academy for girls. This is no Hogwarts (there are only nine students, a headmistress and her assistant), but I wouldn't be surprised at all if J.K. Rowling read this when she was young. There's even a brief scene where someone suggests the academy start accepting boy wizards, but for some reason, they all think it's a bad idea.
BTW: The cover image gives away the ending of a key scene. So, um... don't look at the cover if you want to read it??
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews