The Worst Witch is a series of children's novels written and illustrated by Jill Murphy and published by Puffin Books (The first two books were orginally published by Allison & Busby). They have become some of the most outstandingly successful titles on the Young Puffin paperback list and have sold more than 5 million copies. In 1986, the first book in the series was made into a TV Movie . A TV series based on the books aired from 1998 to 2001, and has inspired two spin-offs, Weirdsister College (2001) and The New Worst Witch (2005).