Diary of an Accidental Witch was a fun and quick read that was quirky and hilarious! The writing was laugh-out-loud funny and the plot was really engaging! The protagonist was brilliant! Overall this was an amazing read and I would definitely like to read a sequel!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!

Prepare to be bewitched by Bea Black and the enchanting village of Little Spellshire. Attending a new secondary school where you know absolutely nobody is scary enough (and something to which I can certainly relate). It’s natural to feel like an outsider in any school, but imagine if you were the only one who wasn’t a witch? When you add magic to the mix, it takes the struggle to fit in to another level entirely.

Through a series of hilarious diary entries, we explore Little Spellshire and feel as though we are attending the School of Extraordinary Arts ourselves. Bea must navigate nasty classmates, disgusting school dinners and unusual pets, while trying to master a subject she feels she has no aptitude for – magic.

Bea is a brilliant character and a master of witty asides, and quaint Little Spellshire is an intriguing setting. Bea’s father and the people connected to the School of Extraordinary Arts are wonderfully eccentric, and the school has lots of peculiar traditions. This is as atmospheric as it is amusing and Katie Saunder's fantastic illustrations really add to the fun.

Bea’s diary records the daily events as her first ever Halloween ball approaches, which makes this ideal reading material for October. It’s a story that can be enjoyed at any time of the year and is guaranteed to entertain whenever it’s read. I’m hoping this is the first in a series and can’t wait for authors Honor and Perdita Cargill to work their magic again.

This is a great read and i would recommend you read this! This was a really fun read which I read so so quickly. My little one loved it! I was kindly gifted an e-book in return a honest review.

Lovely, funny, lighthearted middle grade just what I needed. Can't wait to get my son reading this one next. The illustrations are fantastic . Look forward to more in this series.

This is a classic school story involving difficult classes, school bullies, and the troubles of making friends and fitting in – it’s just that Bea is an ordinary girl who’s accidentally been signed up to a school for witches! It’s a lighthearted story that will have you thinking ‘just one more section’ – I read it in one sitting, though I didn’t mean to! The world of Little Spellshire is a lot of fun – I’ve read pretty much every witch school book going, and this still managed to feel fresh and interesting; there won’t necessarily be any huge surprises in the worldbuilding in general, but there are some lovely touches, like Bea’s hatred of witch food and the school’s pet frogs. You can just tell the authors had a ball writing this!

Bea is a really endearing heroine; I thought the balance between her thinking thinks were weird, and her getting excited about her new school, was well done. It would have been easy for her to make her be too reluctant to join in, and therefore hold the plot back, or have her throw herself into things too much, in which case, no tension. But her slow warming up to the school and the magic world in general is very fun to read, and feels very realistic; often, she enjoys it despite herself! Her voice is engaging – she uses very modern slang in a way I haven’t seen much in recent middle grade, which can be a little more formal than real life when it comes to children’s dialogue, but it works very much with the diary’s sense of immediacy and personal touch.

The book as a whole is almost exactly halfway between the classic The Worst Witch and more modern, heavily illustrated diary format books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Tom Gates. Bea’s misadventures in magic are like Mildred’s disasters, but a whole lot zanier and more immediate, as we get to hear about them in her own words. The text is interspersed with lists, recipes, and doodles, which has always been something I enjoy in a book – this would definitely have been a favourite if I’d had it as a kid! It’s very stylishly done and helps sell that diary feel; it also makes it suitable for the younger end of the age range, as the narrative is broken up into lots of easily digestible chunks for shorter attention spans. I really enjoyed the illustrations, too, which bring the various strange and wonderful characters to life.

Fans of You Can’t Make Me Go To Witch School and Witch Wars, and those reluctantly growing out of Picklewitch & Jack, will have a brilliant time with Bea. I think this is going to be a real hit – and it’s perfect timing for a Halloween read. I had great fun, and I’m looking forward to more from these authors. Five out of five cats!

Absolutely loved this fun, funny read!! Read aloud with my 9 year old and we giggled so much at Bea’s mishaps. We also want to enrol in the school and make best friends with her. A definite win and one I’ll be recommending in our school book club.

Move over, wizards, it's Bea Black's time to shine! Gosh, I absolutely loved this book. Bea Black is such a funny, sarcastic and brave young girl and I found myself both able to relate to her and wanting to be her simultaneously. I mean, honestly, how much bad luck do you have to have to accidentally be sent to a wizarding school because your dad mixed some stuff up? That premise tickled me and the execution was even better! We follow Bea through diary entries - which can be hit and miss for me but was absolutely amazing here because Bea has such a strong voice - as she tries to navigate her new magical school and tries to fit in with all the people who have been using magic for ages while Bea, well, didn't know that was a thing??
Honestly, this is such a fun romp and I'm secretly hoping that this will get a sequel or at least a movie option because I want everyone to meet Bea, Stan and all the other great characters in this.
If you need a sprinkle of magic in your life right now, this is a must-read!

Diary of an Accidental Witch is written as a series of diary entries from Bea Black who has just moved to Little Spellshire with her dad and is just about to start secondary school. She meets a boy called Ash who lives next door and will also be starting in Year 7. He promises to show her around and she starts to think that maybe things will be ok. The weekend before she starts school, she finds out that her dad has made a mistake and instead of registering her at the Academy (where Ash is going), he has accidentally registered her at the School of Extraordinary Arts. And it has a weird uniform. Bea is desperate for her dad to register her at the other school, but until he can, she has to make the best of being at the School of Extraordinary Arts and try her hardest to fit in. The lessons are not quite as straight forward as they appear though and matters are made even more complicated when she is handed her very own magic wand.

This book is incredibly funny and I loved the idea of the whole thing being diary entries. Some of the text is larger or in fancy handwriting and there are pictures accompanying some of the diary entries, just as a young girl’s diary would be. There are sometimes little notes at the bottom of the diary entries or amendments and crossing out, making it seem very realistic. The illustrations by Katie Saunders are just perfect for a diary and bring it alive. I thought the book tackled the worries children have about going to secondary school very well: Bea experienced lots of the same anxieties about fitting in and meeting new people, even if it was at a school of magic! Children from Year 3 upwards will love this book, particularly those that enjoy The Worst Witch, Amelia Fang, The Boy Who Grew Dragons and similar. A wonderfully imaginative magical adventure!

“It doesn’t matter where you start, it’s where you end up that counts”

Eleven year old Bea Black has just moved to Little Spellshire, UK (AKA, the middle of nowhere) with her father, a weather scientist. She’s supposed to be attending Spellshire Academy with Ashkan (Ash), her new next door neighbour and only friend, but Bea’s father accidentally enrolled her in Spellshire’s other school.

The Spellshire School for Extraordinary Arts is a school like no other, where physics involves levitation, English is “Incantations and the Language of Spells” and sport involves broomsticks.

“HARD WORK AND FOCUS and you’ll be flying in no time! Flying - hahaha! But remember: don’t tell a soul. Those of us who know, know and those of them who don’t, can’t.”

Bea, who is Ordinary, spends most of her breaks hiding in the broom cupboard with Stan the frog. She can’t wait for her father to finally arrange her transfer to the school she’s supposed to be attending. Until then, try as she might, Bea fails “TRAGICALLY at all things witchy”.

I really enjoyed this book and am trying to figure out how I can enrol myself in this school. Beside the whole witch thing and the opportunity to perfect spells, I’m always in favour of having legitimate excuses to wear a cape.

Be on the lookout for bats on a sugar high and spiders who can weave pictures. I definitely need to master the “hair-colour-changing trick spell”.

Best homework assignment ever:

“Make a model of a medieval witch castle including potion laboratory, high walls for protection from Ordinaries, magical moat, Great Banqueting Hall and broomstick landing pad.”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Little Tiger Group, an imprint of Stripes Publishing, for the opportunity to read this book. I’m looking forward to continuing this series.

This was a really fun read. Bea Black has moved to Little Spellshire with her scientist father and accidentally gets enrolled in The School for Extraordinary Arts. She is also given her first ever diary which tells us the story of her first term as a non-witch in a school full of witches.
Disaster follows disaster as Bea struggles to find even the smallest spark of magic but despite this, she gradually manages to fit in and begin to make friends. Her adventures are funny and brilliantly described in her diary which reminded me in style of Clarice Bean.
The book is illustrated perfectly throughout by Katie Saunders and would be perfect for all would be witches of 7 years and up.

Step aside Hogwarts, there’s a new magical school in town and I definitely want to attend…where can I enrol? Now, that’s a big statement from someone who is obsessed with everything HP.

Welcome to Little Spellshire, place of magical children, lots of cats and the new home of Bea Black and her dad. When Bea’s dad accidentally enrols her at the School of Extraordinary Arts - a school for local witches - rather than the school for ordinary kids, Bea finds herself amongst unusual classmates, having to take all manner of spellbinding and enchanting lessons and completing homework tasks that involve venturing into the forest to find skeledrake roots…whatever they are.

Bea is absolutely convinced that she definitely does not belong at witch school but with the Halloween Ball getting ever closer, showing just the slightest bit of magical spark would be really useful. Will Bea be able to find her inner witch or is she just a perfect toadbrain…

Diary of an Accidental Witch is the first in a four book series of magical mis-adventures from mother and daughter, Honor and Perdita Cargill, starring an ordinary girl (at least she thinks she is ordinary) who finds herself living and learning in a town that is far from normal. If this first diary is a sign of things to come then the Cargill’s have the perfect concoction of story-writing ingredients for a series that will become a firm favourite with young readers.

Fizzing with fun and bursting with mischief, the diary of Bea Black makes for a fabulously warm-hearted and funny read. With lashings of magical mishaps and unfortunate accidents, Bea’s diary is full of all kinds of witchy fun and readers will be giggling and cackling as she tries to master wand waving, broomstick riding, potion making and levitation whilst trying to complete an ever-lengthening to do list and keep her magical mis-adventures secret from her dad.

The story bounces along and I can honestly say that I did not stop smiling and laughing. Adding to the fun is a delightfully generous sprinkling of magical illustrations from Katie Saunders. And there’s a map…I love a map and the one that introduces Little Spellshire is not only gorgeous but filled with places I would love to visit: Taffy Tallywick’s Tea Shop for a hot chocolate and a slice of cake, Rhubarb and Custard to ogle at the old-fashioned jars of sweets and maybe even try a fizzy skullsquiggler and then off to Mr. Riggle’s Emporium to stock up on fresh cuckoo spit. What a wonderful place Little Spellshire is!

Amongst learning to ride a broomstick, looking after a frog and cutting out twelve-hundred paper bats for the Halloween Ball is a story of a new girl struggling to fit in at a new school, desperately trying to make friends and finding herself having to make the best of the situation that she finds herself in. Whilst readers may not be able to relate to Bea’s witch problems they will be more than familiar with the everyday challenges of school life.

Hubble, bubble and a cauldron lot of light-hearted and laugh-out-loud trouble. Perfect for fans of Amelia Fang and Witch Wars.

Recommended for 7+.

With thanks to Perdita and Honor Cargill and Little Tiger for the advanced reader copy that was received through NetGalley.

I loved the look of the cover of this book, and the concept was appealing, so I decided to give it a go.

I really enjoyed this book. Bea Black accidentally ends up enrolled at a school for witches. Lots of funny things happen as she tries to settle in, and the ending is lovely.

The illustrations are excellent, they really bring the story to life, and add to the humour.

Overall, I think this story is an excellent and entertaining read for younger children.

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

A delightful story for those newly confident readers. It is about coping with change; in this instance a new school, making friends and not being afraid to try new experiences. It also highlights the fact that change can be good for everyone and that tradition is not always the best way forward. I hope there are more stories to come.