arabel and mortimer stories - by joan aiken

Joan Aiken was a much-loved English writer, awarded the MBE for her services to children’s literature. Born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, she went on to become famous for her wild fantasy, Gothic novels and spellbinding short stories, winning both the Guardian Award and the Edgar Allan Poe Award. She is best known for the Wolves Chronicles, beginning with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, as well as her Arabel and Mortimer stories illustrated by Quentin Blake and the beloved A Necklace of Raindrops. A lifelong fan of ghost stories, she had a rare gift for the magical and the mysterious.

When Arabel’s father, taxi driver Ebenezer Jones, finds a large black bird on his way home late one night, he brings it back to the house, and life for the Jones family is never the same again. Mortimer is one in a million. He cries “Nevermore!” whenever he is upset, gobbles up everything from bowler hats to telephones and even the stairs, and refuses to fly except in emergencies, of which there are plenty with this disaster-prone bird around. With six hilarious stories, this classic collection by Joan Aiken, illustrated by Quentin Blake, is a joy for children and adults alike.

author: Joan Aiken

illustrator: Quentin Blake

language: English