Ms. Wiz

Ms Wiz is a series of children's books written by British author Terence Blacker. They follow the antics of a witch (who does not like being called one) Dolores Wisdom a.k.a Ms Wiz who arrives as a new teacher at St Barnabus school for the troublesome Class Three. Through her magic and various fun schemes she is able to transform the class and improve their lives. However the rest of the teachers hate her at the school and she is forced to leave but she returns in other books to help the individual children whenever they need it.

Tropes associated with these books:
"Podge: But that means that Ms Wiz is a character in a story...
 * A Day in The Limelight: The first book is quite general but the rest normally focus on a specific child. There are a couple more general books focusing on more than one.
 * Abusive Parents: Podge's certainly veer towards this as his father starts complaining when Podge starts reading more and asking questions, threatens to spank him when he makes a scene at the assembly, tells him he looks like a football on legs, plans to move him away from St Barnabus and throws out all his books to make room for exam guides. Bear in mind that Podge is about eight years old.
 * Aesop Amnesia: Subverted and played straight with Podge's dad in Power Crazy Ms Wiz. He does give up his plans to make him move schools and put him on a diet but he doesn't give up his grumpy attitude. Caroline's parents also remain on frosty terms despite having a good night out together in Ms Wiz Goes Live though they seem to re-learn their Aesop once again.
 * Affirmative Action Girl: In the first couple of books Caroline and Katrina were the only girls mentioned in Class 3. With You're Nicked, Ms Wiz this adds Lizzie to the class and Nabilla is added in Time Flies With Ms Wiz.
 * Awesome McCoolname: One of Ms Wiz's aliases is "Diamante Wisporina". She gets away with it because she's in Hollywood.
 * Berserk Button: Do not call Ms Wiz or any of her friends witches. They prefer being called Paranormal Operatives.
 * Big Eater: Podge.
 * Black Best Friend: Some illustrations have Jack as black so that makes him this to Podge. Other illustrations have him white though.
 * Bratty Half Pint: Caroline's five-year-old sister Little Musha.
 * Brick Joke: The start of Ms Wiz Supermodel has Katrina's mother remark that her eyebrows look like "a couple of hedgehogs in a gale" when they decide to enter her in the pageant. Three chapters later Podge says to her "your eyebrows look like a couple of worms having a race towards your nose" implying Katrina's mother plucked them for her.
 * But Now I Must Go: Happens at the end of every book.
 * Characterisation Marches On: In the first book Caroline is described as the class dreamer who can never concentrate on her work. None of the later books show signs of this in her though that side of her could have been fixed with Ms Wiz as a teacher.
 * Chekhov's Boomerang: The FISH powder from In Control Ms Wiz pops up again in You're Kidding Ms Wiz to help the kids out.
 * Class Clown: Jack.
 * Classy Cat Burglar: One book has a pair of cat burglars with one who is thrilled to see the cats being rescued.
 * Comically Missing the Point: Ms Gomez and Mrs Hicks argue about whether or not Mr Gilbert has been turned into a wild boar or a warthog, ignoring the fact that the headmaster has just been turned into an animal by magic.
 * Similarly Brian Arnold deliberately ignores Ms Wiz making hamburgers float and turning the floor into an ice rink when he demands to know if she keeps a rat under her t-shirt.
 * Complexity Addiction: Ms Wiz appears to have this as she resorts to zany schemes to help the children out. For example going to Downing Street to stop Podge from being moved schools and conjuring up Fergie and Andrew to stop the local library being closed.
 * Cool and Unusual Punishment: When Jack can't give Ms Wiz's owl the right answer in maths, the owl keeps pooing into the bin and Ms Wiz says every time he does it, it means 50 lines. One can assume he'll also have to clean the bin out...
 * Deadpan Snarker: Jack and Herbert.
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: Katrina is described as someone who "liked to find fault wherever possible" but becomes nicer over the course of the series.
 * Depraved Kids' Show Host: Jimmy, the host of a programme Caroline and her sister end up guest starring on. After a few minutes with Little Musha he goes mad and starts cursing on the air.
 * Disappeared Dad: Lizzie's dad left her mother at a young age but she still sees him every now and then. Her mother hasn't remarried, claiming Lizzie's father "cured me of men".
 * Evil Twin: Ms Wiz has one called Barbara.
 * Fake Nationality: In-universe example as the runner of the kids' fashion show turns out to not be French but an impostor.
 * Five Token Band
 * Freudian Excuse: Half the kids at the school really do have terrible parents.
 * Get a Load of That Square: When Ms Wiz and two friends substitute as teachers at the school they break into a rap song during morning assembly. The kids just sit there in disbelief but Class 3 recognise her and join in.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: One book involves character's getting released from books. The librarian then worries about what would happen if someone managed to release all the rude pictures in the Sunday papers...
 * Halloween Episode: Ms Wiz Loves Dracula. Also doubles as a Christmas Episode.
 * Happily Married: Jack's parents, the only ones in the series to not appear to have any problems.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: Jack and Podge.
 * Hollywood Pudgy: In-universe example as Katrina's parents say she'll have to go on a diet when they enter her in a beauty contest.
 * Informed Ability: In-universe in the second book where Ms Wiz poses as a supply doctor and the consultant eventually notices how she hates the sight of blood and is never around when real medical work is needed.
 * Involuntary Shapeshifting: Ms Wiz loves this and at the end of year assembly tuns the headmaster into a warthog, two other teachers into geese and Podge's dad into a sheep. She also turns a TV producer into a panda in another book. Her spells like that don't last long though.
 * Kindhearted Cat Lover: Lizzie Thompson.
 * Lady Drunk: Lizzie's mother is like this every year at the PTA Halloween Party. It only takes two glasses of wine.
 * Magical Nanny: Ms Wiz is one. She first appears as a teacher though other books have her popping up as a doctor, assistant librarian, tramp and even a famous actor's secretary. She does actually babysit in one book.
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Inverted where the calm and down to earth Brian Andrews charms Ms Wiz though the plot remains the same.
 * Mind Screw: In Control Ms Wiz ends with Ms Wiz disappearing into a book...

Caroline: But where does that leave us?

Jack: Don't even think about it."


 * Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: Mrs Hicks who is said to talk to her teddies during class, regardless of the age of the kids she's teaching.
 * Most Annoying Sound: In-universe with Caroline's sister's tantrums. They've been known to make dishes rattle, neighbours shut their windows and cats run in terror.
 * One Steve Limit: Averted. When Ms Wiz and Nabila go back to an Elizabethan town one girl says there are a few boys called Jack in town.
 * Only Known By Their Nickname: Only Ms Wiz's husband calls her Dolores. Also nobody calls Podge "Peter" and everyone calls Caroline's sister "Little Musha" when her real name is Annie.
 * Politically Correct History: Ms Wiz tries to invoke this when pretending to be Queen Elizabeth I, changing her famous speech to "I may have the body of a weak and fantastically intelligent woman but I have the heart and stomach of a Queen". But averted when we find that an Elizabethan girl is thought to be a witch because she has a stutter. Also the villagers react strangely to the Pakistani Nabilla asking her why she is so brown.
 * Rapunzel Hair: Ms Wiz's black hair tumbles down past her waist. It's one of the many reasons the teacher's disapprove of her.
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Jack loves skateboarding, football and everything boyish...as well as apparently owning nearly all of Beatrix Potter's books and being near tears when Peter Rabbit gets squashed under a bus.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: More like 11,000 years old.
 * Remember the New Guy: There's a few times where Ms Wiz arrives at the school to find new students who haven't met her yet such as Carl, Nabilla and Shelly. Lizzie also isn't actually introduced until the 3rd book but is stated to have been in Class 3 when Ms Wiz taught there.
 * Supernatural Proof Father: Podge's dad.
 * Talking Animal: Ms Wiz's pet rat Herbert. Her owl Archie can't talk though.
 * Team Mom: Lizzie's mother has the most interaction with Ms Wiz in the series, going with her to the PTA Halloween party and also inviting her over for Christmas dinner.
 * Those Two Guys: Simon and Alex, the only other two children mentioned in Class 3 who never get plots to themselves.
 * Time Skip: You're Kidding, Ms Wiz jumps ahead two years to when the kids are in Class 5.
 * Time Travel: The plot of the book Time Flies With Ms Wiz.
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting: In You're Nicked Ms Wiz Lizzie gets changed into a cat to help find her lost one.
 * Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: The parents often react this way whenever Ms Wiz pops up in some new job.