Eva ibbotson which witch series

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, illus. The National Trust The National Trust is an organization dedicated to the preservation of the countryside, coastline, and important buildings and gardens in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This site lists interesting places to visit. Look up maps of London and the Amazon River. Search the sea around the British Isles for places where the Island might be found. Magical beings are central to many of your books. Have you always been interested in the supernatural?

No, curiously I was never particularly interested in the supernatural — quite the contrary. I think I began to write about ghosts and witches and magic generally to make children less afraid; to turn these beings into creatures much like us but of course able to do more interesting things.

My ghosts and witches are more like underdogs, people on the fringes who need sympathy and help. And the witches in Which Witch? Your main characters all seem to come up against people who are more interested in money and power than in feelings and compassion. Is this a theme you consciously set out to explore in every book? I think of my books as entertainments, a kind of present I give the reader, and any serious themes that come up are a by-product.

Humor is an important element in most of your stories. What do you think is the role that humor plays in shaping our lives and our personalities?

But I do know that both in my personal life and in my work I would be completely lost without humor…without the ability to turn things upside down, to extract something ridiculous out of the most solemn moment. In Journey to the River Sea you have written a more realistic story with a strong theme about the importance of nature to the human spirit. What was your inspiration for this story? I wrote Journey to the River Sea not long after my husband died. He was a committed naturalist, someone who combined a deep knowledge of animals and plants with a spiritual outlook that had been strengthened by his war service in India and Burma.

I think I felt at that time that I needed a rest from my usual fantasy stories — though goodness knows the Amazon landscape is fantastical enough in its own right! I wanted to write a story that was simple and old-fashioned and direct.

But I have to say that the reasons one gives for writing anything tend to be made up afterwards. At the time you just find yourself doing it! Start earning points for buying books! Uplift Native American Stories.

Which Witch? Share: Share on Facebook. Add to Cart. About the Book Which Witch? Carter and Miss Minton; Mr. Carter and Bernard Taverner. In each of these stories, children must find resources inside themselves to face difficult challenges and changes in their lives, many times without the help of adults. Which of these characters believes that he or she is alone, and how does that affect the way they face their challenges: Maia, Clovis, Finn, Minette, Fabio, Oliver, Ben, Odge Gribble, Arriman, Terence?

Look carefully at each of the books to see which characters or creatures are most helpful to the protagonist.

Was it obvious to you as the reader that important help would come in this way? How often were you surprised by the power of the helpers? Have you had this experience in your own life, that help came from unexpected sources? Many of the evil characters in the books share certain personality traits. What do these characters have in common: Mrs. Trottle, Mr. Carter, Madame Olympia? What do these characters tell you about the personality traits that the author dislikes?

Set at the onset of the Second World War, and filled with period details, this is a sweeping romantic story about how love can triumph in the toughest of circumstances. For those who loved reading Eva's books as children or as a gift for a life-long fan, these as clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers are a natural fit for any classics collection.

A collection of eighteen romantic short stories that blend great passions with shrewd observations on everyday life. Great Uncle Max is paralysed with indecision between the captivating glove shop assistant Susie and his devoted opera-singing wife, Miss Bennet organises the nativity play at a quiet primary school and makes a miraculous discovery in the search for a baby Jesus, and the lonely dreamer Edwin finds cast-out ballerina Kira on the winter streets of St.

Comical, satirical, romantic and characteristically unpredictable, these enchanting stories are a delight from start to finish. I still have my tattered old copy of The Secret of Platform 13 with my name carefully written in the corner. It was a world I adored as a child and when I was asked to write the sequel, the first character that popped into my head was Odge Gribble.

She is a hag, though an ordinary one who looks human and wishes that she could have warts and impressive ear hair like her hag sisters.

I love how Eva plays with perceptions of beauty so hilariously, and how she twists stereotypical fantasy characters for comedic effect. In The Secret of Platform 13 , Eva created an island, the Island of Mist, where all who found it were welcome and they could call it home.

What Eva created was a tiny inclusive island, built on a childhood of witnessing the extreme opposite. One of my favourite stories, love listening to it whilst doing other boring things like tidying up!

I downloaded this book for Halloween listening for my 6 and 4 yr old boys - crossing my fingers that it wouldn't be too "girly" as it's essentially about the search for love or too scarey. In fact this book is fantastic. Yes it does have lots of atmospheric descriptions of devilish mazes, hedges dripping blood and unpleasant familiars, but it's done in such a matter-of-fact way to seem normal for those characters.

No nightmares from either of my boys. Even when some of the spells go wrong, they were gripped rather than scared. I liked the voices lots and lots.

I also liked the names. And a good story. By River aged 7. This audio book was absolutely fantastic! The narrating was hilarious-the whole thing was really funny,well written and imaginative!

Loved it and would recommend it to everyone. I had this read to me at boarding school when i was about 11 and remember really enjoying it. This was a nice fun read to help keep me focused during my work day. It is a book i really enjoyed. It was narrated really well. Arriman the Awful, Wizard of the North, is tired of being the most evil wizard in the world so he decides he must get married and have a son to take over A must to read aloud to children.

Prunella Scales is excellent. I have fond memories of listening to this book as a child. Prunella Scales has a wonderfully expressive voice which gave the characters life. I was feeling nostalgic one day and got it into my head to listen to this again.