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The Witch of Clatteringshaws |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
 Book Review
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| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0385732260 |
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| Availability: |
Ships within 2-3 days. |
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7 - In this latest installment in "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" saga, Dido attempts to rescue Simon, now king of England, from that tedious role, by seeking out an alternate heir. She and her friend Piers set off to the remote village of Clatteringshaws to find Malise the witch, sister of Father Sam (former hermit, now Archbishop of Canterbury), who may be able to help with the search. While the combination of giant flying otterworms and an invading army of Wends that can be fended off by a sturdy game of hnefatefl (a Wendish board game) may strain the plot's credulity, Aiken somehow brings this story off with panache. Readers soon realize that her characters are just as amused by events as they are, swinging the story away from the ludicrous into a jolly romp of a fantasy. Similar to Gerald... |
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Visions: 19 Short Stories |
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| Author: |
Donald R. Gallo |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Mass Market Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0440202086 |
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| Availability: |
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Book Description
Imagine...
Nineteen superb stories by today's best-known authors of young adult novels, coming together to create a window of the mind, a vision illuminating the joys and sorrows of young people.
These nineteen splendid stories range from tales of tender romance and the delights of mystery and fantasy to the struggles of death, divorce, and growing up. Here are recollections from the past, stories of today, and visions of the future.
From the Publisher
Imagine...Nineteen superb stories by today's best-known authors of young adult novels, coming together to create a window of the mind, a vision illuminating the joys and sorrows of young people.These nineteen splendid stories range from tales of tender romance and the delights of mystery and fantasy to the... |
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The Wooden Dragon |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0099439581 |
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| Availability: |
This title is not currently available. |
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The Wolves of Willoughby Chase |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0440496039 |
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| Availability: |
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Review
"A masterpiece...a copybook lesson in those virtues that a classic children's book must possess."--Time.
Review
"A masterpiece...a copybook lesson in those virtues that a classic children's book must possess."--Time.
See all Editorial Reviews
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The Wooden Dragon |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0224064800 |
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| Availability: |
Ships within 2-3 days. |
Kirkus Reviews
“The colors are luminous and the figures ethereal in Willey’s double–paged full–bleed images.”
Book Description
The incomparable Joan Aiken has created a beautiful fairy tale for older picture book readers
This is the story of lame Window and her sailor brother, Handle, who live in a small house in a wooded hollow. Each autumn, when the leaves fall from the trees, the little house is buried right up to its bedroom windows, so each year Handle must sweep the leaves away. But one day, Handle breaks the news that he must go away on an extra long trip. Window is sad, and desperately worried that she cannot survive without him.
Before he leaves for the harbour, however, Handle gives Window a little wooden dragon and promises his sister that... |
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Wolves of Willoughby Chase |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
064163630X |
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| Availability: |
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Jane Fairfax |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
031215707X |
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| Availability: |
Ships within 3-4 days. |
From Publishers Weekly
Once again Aiken ( Mansfield Revisited ) playfully recreates the fictional world of Jane Austen by appropriating her characters: Jane Fairfax is the friend and rival of the heroine of Emma . Here, headstrong, self-important Emma Woodhouse is pushed from center stage as the limelight falls on the childhood and maturation of her foil. Orphaned Jane is brought up by her shabby-genteel aunt and grandmother in Highbury, near the Woodhouse family estate. Jane joins Emma in her music lessons, where Jane's talent and diligence invite a jealousy in Emma, which is partly overcome after the death of her mother leaves a disconsolate Emma receptive to too-good-to-be-true Jane's sympathy. Then an old family friend whisks Jane off to London in order to educate her alongside his daughters, so that she might eventually support... |
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Nightbirds on Nantucket |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0395971853 |
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| Availability: |
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Book Description
Having had enough of life on board the ship that saved her from a watery grave, Dido Twite wants nothing more than to sail home to England. Instead, Captain Casket's ship lands in Nantucket, where Dido and the captain's daughter, Dutiful Penitence, are left in the care of Dutiful's sinister Aunt Tribulation. In Tribulation's farmhouse, life is unbearable. When mysterious men lurk about in the evening fog, the resourceful Dido rallies against their shenanigans with help from Dutiful, a cabinboy named Nate, and a pink whale.
About the Author
Joan Aiken, daughter of the American writer Conrad Aiken, was born in Rye, Sussex, England, and has written more than sixty books for children, including The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.
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The Way to Write for Children |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
(Paperback) - Revised Ed. |
| ISBN: |
031220048X |
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| Availability: |
Ships within 2-3 days. |
Book Review
Nearly everyone who has curled up with a child and a book has had the thought that he or she, too, could write a children's book. Joan Aiken, in a revised and updated version of her Way to Write for Children, cautions that it's not so easy. While books for the youngest readers may be simple, the best ones are far from simplistic. In this slender volume, Aiken alights on topics relevant to the writing of books for tots, 'tweens, and teens. And, as Jiminy Cricket is for Pinocchio, she acts as a conscience for children's book authors. "Since each child," she intones, "reads only about six hundred books in the course of childhood, each book should nourish them in some way." And if you're writing for teens? They are under enough pressure as it is to partake in adult activities, says Aiken. "Let not the fiction they are offered... |
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Black Hearts in Battersea |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0395971284 |
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| Availability: |
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Book Description
Simon, the foundling from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, arrives in London to meet an old friend and pursue the study of painting. Instead he finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a wicked crew's fiendish caper to overthrow the good King James and the Duke and Duchess of Battersea. With the help of his friend Sophie and the resourceful waif Dido, Simon narrowly escapes a series of madcap close calls and dangerous run-ins. In a time and place where villains do nothing halfway, Simon is faced with wild wolves, poisoned pies, kidnapping, and a wrecked ship. This is a cleverly contrived tale of intrigue and misadventure.
About the Author
Joan Aiken, daughter of the American writer Conrad Aiken, was born in Rye, Sussex, England, and has written more than sixty books for... |
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Lady Catherine's Necklace |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0312244061 |
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| Availability: |
Ships within 2-3 days. |
From Booklist
Aiken's latest sequel to Jane Austen's work centers on Pride and Prejudice's Lady Catherine de Bourgh and the inhabitants of Rosings Park. During an unusual April snowstorm, Ralph Delaval and his sister Priscilla have a carriage accident and arrive at Rosings seeking aid. Elegant and polite, they are allowed to stay, but most of the household is suspicious of their motives. Lady Catherine's daughter Anne does not trust Mr. Delaval, and when he suggests the demolition of a cottage that is inhabited by friends of Anne's late father, she becomes distraught because the two painters and a young gardener are her only friends. Lady Catherine then embarks on a journey; a diamond necklace of hers is declared fake, and a letter arrives informing the family that Lady Catherine has been kidnapped. Everyone is thrown into an... |
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Midnight Is a Place |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0618196250 |
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| Availability: |
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Book Description
Now, back in print, the engaging and suspenseful British fantasy by one of England"s most imaginative storytellers. Lucas Bell is lonely and miserable at Midnight Court, a vast, brooding house owned by his intolerable guardian, Sir Randolph Grimsby. When a mysterious carriage brings a visitor to the house, Lucas hopes he"s found a friend at last. But the newcomer, Anna Marie, is unfriendly and spoiled—and French. Just when Lucas thinks things can"t get any worse, disastrous circumstances force him and Anna Marie, parentless and penniless, into the dark and unfriendly streets of Blastburn.
Card catalog description
Fourteen-year-old Lucas leads a lonely, monotonous life in the house of his unpleasant guardian until the unexpected arrival of an unusual little... |
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Midwinter Nightingale |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0385730810 |
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| Availability: |
Ships within 3-4 days. |
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7-Forty years after the publication of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Doubleday, 1963), Aiken presents a new and vibrant adventure of indomitable Dido Twite in this eighth book in the series. Dido gets involved in a plot by an exceedingly evil werewolf-Baron fresh from 15 years incarceration in the Tower of London. The Baron connives to place his own son on the throne of England, rather than Dido's friend Simon. Energetic, imaginative characterization, suspense, and superb timing drive the story to a satisfying conclusion. Although titles in the "Wolves" series may be read independently, readers of the earlier books are the best audience for this romp of a Victorian parody. Aiken's faux-historical novels should appeal to readers of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events"... |
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Midwinter Nightingale |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
044041928X |
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| Availability: |
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From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7-Forty years after the publication of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Doubleday, 1963), Aiken presents a new and vibrant adventure of indomitable Dido Twite in this eighth book in the series. Dido gets involved in a plot by an exceedingly evil werewolf-Baron fresh from 15 years incarceration in the Tower of London. The Baron connives to place his own son on the throne of England, rather than Dido's friend Simon. Energetic, imaginative characterization, suspense, and superb timing drive the story to a satisfying conclusion. Although titles in the "Wolves" series may be read independently, readers of the earlier books are the best audience for this romp of a Victorian parody. Aiken's faux-historical novels should appeal to readers of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events"... |
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Midwinter Nightingale |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0385901038 |
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| Availability: |
Ships within 2-3 days. |
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7-Forty years after the publication of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Doubleday, 1963), Aiken presents a new and vibrant adventure of indomitable Dido Twite in this eighth book in the series. Dido gets involved in a plot by an exceedingly evil werewolf-Baron fresh from 15 years incarceration in the Tower of London. The Baron connives to place his own son on the throne of England, rather than Dido's friend Simon. Energetic, imaginative characterization, suspense, and superb timing drive the story to a satisfying conclusion. Although titles in the "Wolves" series may be read independently, readers of the earlier books are the best audience for this romp of a Victorian parody. Aiken's faux-historical novels should appeal to readers of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events"... |
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Stolen Lake |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0618070214 |
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| Availability: |
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Review
Time Magazine : "The author is better at creating villains than anybody since Dickens." — Time Magazine
Review
"The author is better at creating villains than anybody since Dickens." — Time Magazine
See all Editorial Reviews
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The Witch of Clatteringshaws |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0385902522 |
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| Availability: |
Ships within 2-3 days. |
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7 - In this latest installment in "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" saga, Dido attempts to rescue Simon, now king of England, from that tedious role, by seeking out an alternate heir. She and her friend Piers set off to the remote village of Clatteringshaws to find Malise the witch, sister of Father Sam (former hermit, now Archbishop of Canterbury), who may be able to help with the search. While the combination of giant flying otterworms and an invading army of Wends that can be fended off by a sturdy game of hnefatefl (a Wendish board game) may strain the plot's credulity, Aiken somehow brings this story off with panache. Readers soon realize that her characters are just as amused by events as they are, swinging the story away from the ludicrous into a jolly romp of a fantasy. Similar to Gerald... |
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Necklace Of Raindrops: And Other Stories |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
044041850X |
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| Availability: |
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From Publishers Weekly
Aiken's 1968 collection of eight tales, A Necklace of Raindrops and Other Stories, infused with magic (such as flying carpets, an oversize cat and a house that rests "on one leg") returns with more than 60 new b&w illustrations by Kevin Hawkes. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Booklist
Gr. 4-6, younger for reading aloud. The pleasure of seeing this excellent short-story collection back in print is heightened by the addition of Kevin Hawkes' new black-and-white artwork. Many of the drawings are strongly reminiscent of Wanda Gag's illustration. In fact, the publishers' note on Hawkes mentions that he created these pictures "in the tradition of The Story of Ferdinand and Millions of Cats." A... |
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Dido and Pa |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0618196234 |
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| Availability: |
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From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8 Aiken's tales of Dido Twite are among her rollicking best, and Dido and Pa is no exception. Reunited at long last with Simon (whom readers first met in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Doubleday, 1962), Dido has just begun to describe her adventures when her Pa, having decoyed Simon, kidnaps his daughter and returns with her to London. The evil Eisengrim , head of the Hanoverians with whom Mr. Twite has long been involved, is plotting to overthrow King Richard and install his own puppet, a look-alike whom Pa expects Dido to prepare for his role as royal imposter. In an operatic plot filled with shifting scenes and shifty characters, complications are presented, compounded, and finally undone, with nearly all of the right people in the right places at the end. Mr. Twite, however, is absent from the... |
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Nightbirds on Nantucket |
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| Author: |
Joan Aiken |
Book Review
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| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0395971241 |
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| Availability: |
Ships within 2-3 days. |
Book Description
Having had enough of life on board the ship that saved her from a watery grave, Dido Twite wants nothing more than to sail home to England. Instead, Captain Casket's ship lands in Nantucket, where Dido and the captain's daughter, Dutiful Penitence, are left in the care of Dutiful's sinister Aunt Tribulation. In Tribulation's farmhouse, life is unbearable. When mysterious men lurk about in the evening fog, the resourceful Dido rallies against their shenanigans with help from Dutiful, a cabinboy named Nate, and a pink whale.
About the Author
Joan Aiken, daughter of the American writer Conrad Aiken, was born in Rye, Sussex, England, and has written more than sixty books for children, including The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.
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