Winnie the Witch (also known as Winnie and Wilbur since 2016) is a series of nineteen picture books, written by Valerie Thomas and illustrated by Korky Paul. More than seven million books have been sold of the series, and it has been translated into more than 10 languages.[1]
Following on from the success of the picture books, a series of 'young fiction' Winnie the Witch books were written by Laura Owen, also illustrated by Korky Paul. An animated series based on the books was initially produced for Milkshake!, but only two episodes aired as specials.
| Winnie the Witch | |
| Author: | Valerie Thomas |
| Illustrator: | Korky Paul |
| Cover Artist: | Korky Paul |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Children's literature |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| Pub Date: | 1987 |
| Pages: | 32 pages |
| Isbn: | 0-19-272683-8 |
| Oclc: | 67869241 |
The original book Winnie The Witch was first published in 1987. It was reprinted nine times up until 1997 and re-issued with a new cover in 2006. In 2016, the book series was rebranded from Winnie The Witch to Winnie and Wilbur.
Valerie Thomas has worked for many years in education, teaching in schools in Australia and the UK. Korky Paul is an illustrator of children's books. In 1986, he illustrated his first book for Oxford University Press, Winnie the Witch, which won the Red House Children's Book Award[2] in 1988.
Winnie can't find her cat Wilbur in her house, because both her house and Wilbur are black. So she uses magic to turn Wilbur into a variety of colours, each one of which leads to a variety of mishaps and makes Wilbur miserable. In the end, Winnie turns Wilbur back to his original colour and changes the colour of her house instead.[3]
Winnie the Witch was adopted into a British animated children's television series titled "Winnie and Wilbur". The first two episodes of the series, following the adventures of witch Winnie, and her black cat Wilbur, debuted on Discovery Kids in Latin America on 17 December 2016,[4] and on Milkshake! in the United Kingdom on 24 December.[5] The first season was set for 52 11-minute episodes,[6] but only two episodes were aired.