History Literature / MsWiz

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

''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.

** 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.

* Expy: Ms. Wiz could be considered a female one of ''Literature/MrMajeika'', a wizard teacher character from a series of books first made in the 80s.

--> -'''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:'''

** Katrina's in a different way, as they're finicky neat freaks and perfectionists. They enter her in a modelling contest, try to make her go on a diet and forcibly pluck her eyebrows.
* AesopAmnesia: 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.
* AffirmativeActionGirl: 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'' (it's specifically stated that Nabilla was new in that book).
* AllWitchesHaveCats: Ms Wiz has a china cat (which shows some signs of life even if Hecate never actually moves) but - possibly in defiance of this trope - her 'familiar' is a rat instead.
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Ms Wiz gives off this impression to the adults, but the children know this is not the case.
* BerserkButton: Do not call Ms Wiz or any of her friends witches. They prefer being called Paranormal Operatives.

* BlackVikings: Lampshaded in ''Time Flies For Ms Wiz'' where Nabilla goes back in time to an Elizabethan village, and the locals are wondering why she's so brown (she's Pakistani, but Ms Wiz uses local ignorance to claim that it's just another village where the sun shines a lot).

* BrickJoke: 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.
* BurnTheWitch: Averted in "Time Flies With Ms Wiz" as the Elizabethan villagers are ducking a girl who they believe to be a witch.

* CharacterisationMarchesOn: 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.
* ChekhovsBoomerang: The FISH powder from ''In Control Ms Wiz'' pops up again in ''You're Kidding Ms Wiz'' to help the kids out, but now serves a different purpose.

* ComicBookTime: The kids remain in Class Three for nearly all of the books, despite a mention of "end of term" in the first. ''You're Kidding Ms Wiz'' has a TimeSkip to when they're now Class Five. ''Ms Wiz Supermodel'' was published after that and is chronologically the eleventh book in the series. But there's no mention of Brian Andrews so one could assume it takes place before Ms Wiz meets him.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: 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.

* CompanionCube: Ms Wiz has a china cat called Hecate. It's somewhat sentient and its eyes flash whenever people are causing mischief.
* ComplexityAddiction: 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.
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: 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...

** ''You're Nicked, Ms Wiz'' - Lizzie.

** ''Ms Wiz Banned'' - Carl (acting to rescue the rest of the class).

* DepravedKidsShowHost: 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.
* DietEpisode: ''Power Crazy Ms Wiz'' starts out as this, but the focus is more on Podge being forced to move away from St Barnabus.

* EvilTwin: Ms Wiz has one called Barbara, who was born on Friday the 13th (Ms Wiz apparently has twenty sisters, of which Barbara was the thirteenth born, but it is not specified if Ms Wiz is older or younger than Barbara).
* Expy: Ms Wiz could be considered a female one of Mr. Majeika, a wizard teacher character from a series of books first made in the 80s.

* HappilyMarried: Jack's parents, the only ones in the series to not appear to have any problems. Ms Wiz herself with Brian Andrews, from ''You're Kidding Ms Wiz'' onwards.

* HollywoodPudgy: In-universe example as Katrina's parents say she'll have to go on a diet when they enter her in a beauty contest.
* HotWitch: Ms Wiz dresses as one for the PTA Halloween Dance. Mrs Thompson remarks that the PTA isn't used to seeing glamorous witches, still believing in the WickedWitch stereotype.
* InformedAbility: InUniverse 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.
* InsistentTerminology: They aren't Witches, they are Paranormal Operatives (except for Ms Wiz's evil sister Barbara, who happily considers herself a witch).
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: 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.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Mrs Darcy, the CruellaToAnimals villain of ''You're Nicked, Ms Wiz'' is punished by having all her fur clothes get restored to life. As everything she's wearing is of fur, she's left completely naked. As she's found in a public car park, this probably ads public indecency to her list of crimes.
* MagicLibrarian: Ms Wiz only in "In Control, Ms Wiz"
* MagicalNanny: 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 (and she started that one doing a survey for a window-cleaning company).
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Inverted where the calm and down to earth Brian Andrews charms Ms Wiz, though the plot remains the same.
* MindScrew: ''In Control Ms Wiz'' ends with Ms Wiz disappearing into a book...
---> '''Podge:''' But that means that Ms Wiz is a character in a story...

* MisplacedKindergartenTeacher: Mrs Hicks is said to talk to her teddies during class, regardless of the age of the kids she's teaching.
* MoralGuardians: Parodied in ''Ms Wiz Goes To Hollywood'' when one of these protests against a movie being made of Ms Wiz's life, out of fear that it'll cause children to play with the occult.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: ''You're Nicked, Ms Wiz'' ends with the police discovering Mrs Darcy in her car...completely naked because Ms Wiz has turned all her fur back into the animals they came from. And everything Mrs Darcy was wearing was made of fur.

** An example with a place name in "Ms Wiz Banned". The Paranormal Operative Headquarters is abbreviated as PO. Ms Wiz remarks everyone keeps mistaking it for the Post Office and sending their parcels there.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: 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.

* PerkyGoth: Ms Wiz wears black lipstick and nail varnish and has a gothic appearance, and is also usually bright and cheerful whenever she's around.
* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: 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.
* PrecociousCrush: Ms Wiz falls for a man dressed as Dracula and believes he's a real vampire. Eventually subverted when she learns he's just a school inspector.
* RealMenWearPink: 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.

* RefugeeFromTVLand: Happens in "In Control, Ms Wiz" thanks to the FISH Powder, which frees characters from books. Those freed include a BigEater from the ''Guinness Book of Records'', the entire cast of Creator/BeatrixPotter and Fergie and Andrew from the Bumper Book of the Royal Wedding; however, they are apparently only capable of limited independence, as their words belong to their authors rather than the characters themselves and they are therefore mute, requiring Caroline to impersonate Fergie's voice.
* RememberTheNewGuy: 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.

* ShoutOut: Ms Wiz has magic powers and marries a business man that loves her but doesn't want her to use her magic. [[{{Series/Bewitched}} Sound familiar?]]
* SpeakingLikeTotallyTeen: 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 recognize her and join in.

* TalkingAnimal: Ms Wiz's pet rat Herbert. Her owl Archie can't talk though.
* TeamMom: 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.

* TimeSkip: ''You're Kidding, Ms Wiz'' jumps ahead two years to when the kids are in Class 5.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Feisty and aggressive Katrina O'Brien, hand in hand with daydreamer wannabe actress Caroline Smith. Additionally KindheartedCatLover Lizzie Thompson with headstrong Nabilla who admires Joan of Arc.
* TrappedInTVLand: Played with in ''Ms Wiz Goes Live''; Ms Wiz, Caroline and Little Musha willingly go inside the TV but have to escape before the parents get home.

* WizardsLiveLonger: See ReallySevenHundredYearsOld above. Ms Wiz apparently remembers cavemen - though then again she is able to time travel.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: One of Ms Wiz's aliases is "Diamante Wisporina". She gets away with it because she's in Hollywood.

* [[AllWitchesHaveCats All Paranormal Operatives Have Cats]]: Ms Wiz has a china cat (which shows some signs of life even if Hecate never actually moves) but - possibly in defiance of this trope - her 'familiar' is a rat instead.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: One of Ms Wiz's aliases is "Diamante Wisporina". She gets away with it because she's in Hollywood. Dolores Wisdom is also a pretty cool name in itself.

* BlueCollarWarlock: All the Paranormal Operatives.

* DeadpanSnarker: Jack and Herbert.

* FiveTokenBand

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Jack and Podge.

* InformedAbility: 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.

* SupernaturalProofFather: Podge's dad.

* RapunzelHair: Ms Wiz's black hair tumbles down past her waist. It's one of the many reasons the teachers disapprove of her.

* AdultFear: Somewhat addressed in ''You're Nicked, Ms Wiz''. Mrs Thompson only knows that her daughter has gone off with a tramp who is supposedly a witch...to go after cat nappers. And she didn't go to school that day so she has no idea how much of a head start they have.

* EvilTwin: Ms Wiz has one called Barbara, who was born on Friday the 13th (Ms Wiz apparently has twenty sisters, or which Barbara was the thirteenth born, but it is not specified if Ms Wiz is older or younger than Barbara).

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: One book involves characters 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...

* BlackBestFriend: Some illustrations have Jack as black so that makes him this to Podge. Other illustrations have him white though.

* MostAnnoyingSound: 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.

* AffirmativeActionGirl: 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''.
* [[AllWitchesHaveCats All Paranormal Operatives Have Cats]]: Ms Wiz has a china cat but - possibly in defiance of this trope - her 'familiar' is a rat instead.

* BlackVikings: Lampshaded in ''Time Flies For Ms Wiz'' where Nabilla goes back in time to an Elizabethan village, and the locals are wondering why she's so brown (she's Pakistani).

* ChekhovsBoomerang: The FISH powder from ''In Control Ms Wiz'' pops up again in ''You're Kidding Ms Wiz'' to help the kids out.

** ''Ms Wiz Banned'' - Carl.
** ''Time Flies For Ms Wiz'' - Nabilla.

* EvilTwin: Ms Wiz has one called Barbara.

* InsistentTerminology: They aren't Witches, they are Paranormal Operatives.

* MagicalNanny: 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.

* RefugeeFromTVLand: Happens in "In Control, Ms Wiz" thanks to the FISH Powder, which frees characters from books. Those freed include a BigEater from the ''Guinness Book of Records'', the entire cast of Creator/BeatrixPotter and Fergie and Andrew from the Bumper Book of the Royal Wedding.

-->"I go wherever a little magic is needed"
---> -'''Ms Wiz'''

* AwesomeMcCoolname: One of Ms Wiz's aliases is "Diamante Wisporina". She gets away with it because she's in Hollywood.

* BigEater: Podge.

* MisplacedKindergartenTeacher: Mrs Hicks who is said to talk to her teddies during class, regardless of the age of the kids she's teaching.

!!!'''Tropes associated with these books:'''

* AbusiveParents: 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.

* ADayInTheLimelight: 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.

* FurAndLoathing/ CruellaToAnimals: Mrs Darcy, the villainess of ''You're Nicked, Ms Wiz''.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: 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...

* KindheartedCatLover: Lizzie Thompson.

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Inverted where the calm and down to earth Brian Andrews charms Ms Wiz though the plot remains the same.

* OneSteveLimit: Averted. When Ms Wiz and Nabila go back to an Elizabethan town one girl says there are a few boys called Jack in town.

* RapunzelHair: Ms Wiz's black hair tumbles down past her waist. It's one of the many reasons the teacher's disapprove of her.

* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: The parents often react this way whenever Ms Wiz pops up in some new job.

* RefugeeFromTVLand: Happens in "In Control, Ms Wiz" thanks to the FISH Powder. It frees characters from books. Those freed include a BigEater from the ''Guinness Book of Records'', the entire cast of BeatrixPotter and Fergie and Andrew from the Bumper Book of the Royal Wedding.

* ADayInTheLimelight: 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.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: One of Ms Wiz's aliases is "Diamante Wisporina". She gets away with it because she's in Hollywood.

* GetALoadOfThatSquare: 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 recognize her and join in.

* HappilyMarried: Jack's parents, the only ones in the series to not appear to have any problems.

* FridgeHorror: Ms Wiz mentions in ''Ms Wiz Goes Live'' that her spell that brought the dinosaur to life doesn't normally last long. If the same is true for the spell she used in ''You're Nicked, Ms Wiz'' then she resurrected a bunch of animals who were going to die again when the spell wore off. Though it's entirely likely it was a different type of spell. [[note]]In the first example she only makes a model of a Dodo come to life to prank a TV presenter. In the second she casts a spell to free the animals that made Mrs Darcy's fur coat[[/note]]

* GetALoadOfThatSquare: 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.

* AnimalSidekick: Ms Wiz has Herbert the talking rat and Archie the mathematical owl. She also has a china cat called Hecate who may or may not be alive...

* HalloweenEpisode: ''Ms Wiz Loves Dracula''.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: 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.

* RememberTheNewGuy: 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.

* TotallySpeakingTeen: 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.
* ToyShip: Jack and Lizzie.

* DisproportunateRetribution: PlayedForLaughs in most books where Ms Wiz resorts to outrageous schemes to solve the children's problems such as going to Downing Street to stop Podge's dad from moving him to a different school and conjuring up Fergie and Andrew to stop the local library being closed.

* HaveYouMetTheNewGuy: There's quite a few books where Ms Wiz arrives to find some new student in the class who has never met her before.

* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Ms Wiz turns a TV producer into a panda when he tries to stop her reading the news.