Joan Aiken Books In Order

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

Aiken, Joan The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Doubleday 1962stated First American edition Full bound red cloth with black title on spine and black, red eyed wolf on front. About 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches; 168 pp; b&w illustrations by Pat Marriott. Book quite clean, square, tight and has very little wearcouple of gentle corner bumps, nick at bottom edge of front cover; ink name of PO on ffep. Dust jacket not clipped but worn about edges, corners and spine ends; a 1/4 inch tear; rubbed and on white back panel has dark spotting offset from another book???; small faint stain on spine. Fiction. Victorian England. Juvenile up to 12 years.

Black Hearts in Battersea

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.

Nightbirds on Nantucket

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.

The Stolen Lake

Readers who have followed Dido Twite’s escapades in BLACK HEARTS IN BATTERSEA and NIGHTBIRDS ON NANTUCKET will welcome her return in her wildest adventure yet. Now back in print, THE CUCKOO TREE and The Stolen Lake continue the Wolves Chronicles, the exhilarating and imaginative series that stemmed from Joan Aiken s classic THE WOLVES OF WILLOUGHBY CHASE. A dazzling piece of dramatic, snowballing adventure, The Stolen Lake is full of fantastical details: revolving palaces, witches who are also court dressmakers, an apocalyptic volcanic eruption, and an infernal country with a noticeable lack of female children. On her way back to London aboard the British man of war Thrush, twelve year old Dido Twite finds herself and the crew summoned to the aid of the tyrannical queen of New Cumbria. A neighboring king has stolen the queen s lake and is holding it for ransom, and it s up to Dido and the crew to face fire, flood, execution, and wild beasts to get the lake back or else.

The Cuckoo Tree

When Dido Twite sets foot back on English soil, more mischief awaits. As her friend Captain Hughes recovers from a carriage accident, Dido stays at the Dogkennel Cottages and meets the odd inhabitants of Tegleaze Manor: strange old Lady Tegleaze, her nephew, Tobit, and his wizened, witchy nurse, Sannie. Soon suspicious things happen. A priceless miniature is stolen. Tobit is framed and then kidnapped. A twin sister is found. And when Dido catches a glimpse of her rascally father in Petworth, she is sure she’s in the midst of another Hanoverian plot. Can she get to London to warn the king and save St. Paul’s Cathedral from sliding into the Thames?

Dido and Pa

Readers who have followed Dido Twite’s escapades in Black Hearts in Battersea and Nightbirds on Nantucket will welcome her return in another wild adventure. Now back in print, Dido and Pa continues the Wolves Chronicles, the exhilarating and imaginative series that stemmed from Joan Aiken s classic The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Dido Twite is finally back home in London and reunited with her old friend Simon, now the Duke of Battersea and a favorite of King Richard. But no sooner does Dido start to settle in than her rascally father, Abednago, appears and drags her off into the night. Soon Dido finds herself caught up in the midst of another dastardly Hanoverian conspiracy: a plot involving a mysterious double for the king, the miraculous healing powers of music, and a spy network made up of abandoned street children called lollpoops. Meanwhile, out in the forest, starving wolves are closing in on the city…

Is

The Children Of London Are VanishingNo one knows why, so Is Twite, younger sister of Dido Twite from Dido and Pa and Nightbirds on Nantucket, sets out to discover the whereabouts of Arun, her cousin, and Davie, the king’s only son both missing. Is soon finds herself aboard a secret midnight train heading north to Playland, a place of fun and frolic and dancing every night, or so they say…
. Instead of fun, Is is heading straight into horrible, horrible danger…
and exciting, terrifying adventure!’A heart stopping adventure.’ The Washington Post Book World’Enough hair raising doom and daring rescues to satisfy even the most passionate adventure lover.’ Booklist, Boxed’Just the sort of serious and thrilling fare young readers crave, a rip roaring adventure.’ Publishers Weekly, Starred

Midwinter Nightingale

Dido and Simon are in danger in this new addition to the Wolves Chronicles. Dido, back in England from America, is almost instantly kidnapped and taken to a derelict mansion surrounded by a deadly moat. The evil baron residing there, who is also a werewolf, wants desperately to know where King Dick is hidden. For the king is dying, and the evil baron wants to put his own demented son on the throne. Meanwhile Simon is with the ailing king. Not only does King Dick want Simon to paint a portrait of him and his family, but Simon is also next in line for the throne. However, they do need to find the coronet for the ceremony that will crown Simon. Though the coronet is rumored to be in the derelict mansion where Dido is imprisoned, no one can find it. It’s one cliffhanging, hair raising chapter after another in this tongue in cheek, devilishly delicious adventure.

From the Hardcover edition.

The Witch of Clatteringshaws

Malise, The Witch of Clatteringshaws lives in a disused Ladies Convenience at the end of a coach park in Caledonia overlooking Loch Grieve inhabited by Hobyahs and a monster. In the prologue to the story, Malise discovers a newborn infant in the rubbish bin in the coach park. Down in London Simon Battersea has inherited the throne of England and although accompanied by his friend Dido he is not happy with his lot. On hearing of other possible claimants to the throne and that the Witch may be able to help her, Dido departs to Scotland to follow the clues. Meanwhile England is invaded by the Saxon Wends and Simon also goes northwards with his army; all participants being reluctant to fight, the situation is resolved by a game of Hnefatefl between Simon and the Wendish leader Simon wins. Everyone meets up in Clatteringshaws. Dido is successful in her hunt for a legitimate heir Piers Crackenthorpe the ‘Woodlouse’ thought to be drowned in the moat of Fogrum Hall in Midwinter Nightingale and Simon hands over the realm with relief. Simon and Dido are free to live their own lives as they wish.

The Whispering Mountain

Winner of the Guardian Prize for FictionIn the small town of Pennygaff, where Owen has been sent to live after his mother’s death, a legendary golden harp has been found. Knowing of the prophesy of the Harp of Teirtu, Owen must prevent the magic harp from falling into the evil clutches of its reputed owner, the sinister and diabolical Lord Mayln. But it won t be easy. Owen and his friend Arabis are plunged into a hair raising adventure of intrigue, kidnapping, exotic underground worlds, savage beasts…
even murder. For only too late will Owen learn that Lord Mayln will stop at nothing to have the golden harp.

The Serial Garden

‘In a singularly important publishing even, the first complete collection of Aiken’s 24 beloved Armitage cycle of stories appears here for the first time. The family who dwells in and out of magical worlds transcends fantasy and enters the world of classic, entrancing literature. Belongs on every child s bookshelf. For all ages.’ Smithsonian Magazine Notable Books for Children 2008 ‘For sheer charm it s hard to beat these wonderful, dead pan comic tales about one family s adventures nearly always on a Monday with ghosts, witches, time travel, the Furies and every sort of magic.’ Michael Dirda, The Washington Post Book World ‘Buy it to read to your kids, and you ll find yourself sneaking tastes on the sly; a little Aiken is a fine thing to have in your system at any age.’ Salon. com ‘Joan Aiken s invention seemed inexhaustible, her high spirits a blessing, her sheer storytelling zest a phenomenon. She was a literary treasure, and her books will continue to delight for many years to come.’ Philip Pullman The best kind of writer, strange and spooky and surprising, never sentimental or whimsical. Kelly Link ‘Gathered under one cover from several Aiken collections, the magical, eccentric and very British Armitage family reappears in a collection of 24 stories, four never before published. The Armitages wacky magic usually a Monday occurrence and that of their fantastical town, a place filled with witches and magical beings, rises from the pages when matters go slightly awry, in the manner of Edward Eager and E. Nesbit.’ Kirkus Reviews ‘The Armitage family stories are stories of a seemingly ordinary British family to whom magical things seemed to happen regularly. Collected here for the first time are all of Joan Aiken’s twenty four Armitage family stories, four of which have never been published before. These are short stories for children which, with their mix of magic, myth, and humor, appeal broadly to adults as well.’ About. com, Holiday Gift Books 2008 ‘Readers of all ages have the opportunity to enjoy some of the best writing by one of the most superb and timeless fantasy writers.’ Green Man Review ‘The Armitage s world grows richer as it is extended. This is a collection of stories which allow in fact demand the reader joins in with their own imagination and remakes the story inside their own head. Aiken s pragmatism shows through in her stories. Instead of remaining in or reflecting upon the past like some of her contemporaries, they show an author making the best of the world and coming out ahead with humor and imagination. January Magazine ‘Each of the tales brims with old fashioned adventure and charm. An excellent way to show Harry Potter fans that magic can come in small doses too.’ Author Magazine This is the first complete collection of Joan Aiken s beloved Armitage stories and it includes four new, unpublished stories. After Mrs. Armitage makes a wish, the Armitage family has interesting and unusual experiences every Monday and the occasional Tuesday. The Board of Incantation tries to take over their house to use as a school for young wizards; the Furies come to stay; and a cutout from a cereal box leads into a beautiful and tragic palace garden. Charming and magical, the uncommon lives of the Armitage family will thrill and delight readers young and old. Includes Joan Aiken s Prelude from Armitage, Armitage, Fly Away Home, as well as introductions from Joan Aiken s daughter, Lizza Aiken, and best selling author Garth Nix. Illustrated by Andi Watson. Praise for Joan Aiken: ‘A writer of wild humor and unrestrained imagination.’ Oxford Companion to Children s Literature ‘This year can boast one genuine small masterpiece…
. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase…
almost a copybook lesson in those virtues that a classic children s book must possess.’ Time Magazine Best known for The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Joan Aiken 1924 2004 wrote over a hundred books and won the Guardian and Edgar Allan Poe awards. After her first husband s death, she supported her family by copyediting at Argosy magazine and an advertising agency before turning to fiction. She went on to write for Vogue, Good Housekeeping, Vanity Fair, Argosy, Women s Own, and many others.

Arabel’s Raven

Young Arabel’s life is changed forever when her father, a taxi driver, brings home an injured bird he finds in the street. This wacky raven eats everything in sight, answers the telephone by squawking ‘Nevermore!’ and causes chaos wherever he goes but Arabel loves her new feathered friend, whom she names Mortimer. This is the first volume of Arabel and Mortimer’s adventures, brightened with hilarious illustrations by Quentin Blake.

Escaped Black Mamba

A black mamba has escaped from the zoo and Arabel and Mortimer are missing.

Mortimer and the Sword Excalibur

One of the novels featuring Arabel and her raven, Mortimer. With Noah the boa using his coils to work the doughnut machine, and with the three giraffes all tangled up on the spiral stair, Mortimer’s first night in a zoo was one to be remembered for a long, long time.

Mortimer’s Cross

Three further adventures of Arabel and her pet raven, Mortimer, include ‘The Mystery of Mr. Jones’s Disappearing Taxi,’ ‘Mortimer’s Cross,’ and ‘Mortimer’s Portrait on Glass.’

Go Saddle the Sea

Felix Brooke, the orphaned son of an English soldier and an aristocratic Spanish mother, has been raised in the strict, loveless household of his grandfather in Villaverde, Spain. When Felix gains possession of a letter that contains a clue to the whereabouts of his father’s family, he gladly runs away form home to pursue the trail. His journey from Spain to far off England begins the adventure of a lifetime.

Bridle the Wind

After visiting his family in England, Felix is on his way back to Spain when he’s shipwrecked off the coast of France. He is taken in by monks to recover from his ordeal but it soon becomes clear to him that he is actually being held prisoner. Felix encounters an injured boy, Juan, on the grounds of the monastery and saves him from death. The two boys escape and continue on to Spain together but a gang is pursuing Juan, and the journey is more dangerous than they imagined.

The Teeth of the Gale

Now eighteen, Felix sets out across the mountains of Spain to rescue three children kidnapped by their father. Along the way, he hopes to see his true love, Juana, who has entered a convent. But his rescue party is being followed, and Felix fears he and the children are being led into a trap.

Mansfield Revisited

In Aiken’s sequel to Jane Austen’s complex and fascinating novel, after hero*ine Fanny Price marries Edmund Bertram, they depart for the Caribbean, and Fanny’s younger sister Susan moves to Mansfield Park as Lady Bertram’s new companion. Surrounded by the familiar cast of characters from Jane Austen’s original, and joined by a few charming new characters introduced by the author, Susan finds herself entangled in romance, surprise, scandal, and redemption.

Aiken’s diverting tale gives the reader interesting speculation on how the Crawfords, whose winning personalities were marred by an amoral upbringing, might have turned out, and Jane Austen’s morality tale takes new directions with an unexpected and somewhat controversial ending.

‘A lovely read and you don’t have to have read Mansfield Park to enjoy it.’ Woman’s Own

‘Her sense of time and place is impeccable.’ Publishers Weekly

‘An excellent sequel…
remarkably effective and very funny.’
Evening Standard 20080711

Jane Fairfax

Jane Austen’s Emma has been a favorite novel for Austenites since 1816. In the mid 1990s it became a favorite movie for millions of new admirers.

A key reason for Emma’s success is that the story has two hero*ines Emma Woodhouse and Jane Fairfax. In Austen’s novel, Jane’s backgound is left obscure, and the turmoil underlying her current reduced circumstances in mysterious.

At last we learn her whole story in Joan Aiken’s superb retelling of Emma this time from Jane Fairfax‘s point of view. When Jane Fairfax was published in hardcover, Aiken’s wit, style, and skill prompted Booklist to say, ‘Brilliant…
extraordinarily will done and highly recommended.’

This worthy companion to the great original is for the first time now available in paperback.

Eliza’s Daughter

A Young Woman Longing for Adventure and an Artistic Life…

Because she’s an illegitimate child, Eliza is raised in the rural backwater with very little supervision. An intelligent, creative, and free spirited hero*ine, unfettered by the strictures of her time, she makes friends with poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge, finds her way to London, and eventually travels the world, all the while seeking to solve the mystery of her parentage. With fierce determination and irrepressible spirits, Eliza carves out a life full of adventure and artistic endeavor.

PRAISE FOR JOAN AIKEN

‘Others may try, but nobody comes close to Aiken in writing sequels to Jane Austen.’
PublishersWeekly

‘Aiken’s story is rich with humor, and her language is compelling. Readers captivated with Elinor and Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility will thoroughly enjoy Aiken’s crystal gazing, but so will those unacquainted with Austen.’
Booklist

‘…
innovative storyteller Aiken again pays tribute to Jane Austen in a cheerful spinoff of Sense and Sensibility.’
Kirkus Reviews

Emma Watson

Jane Austen wrote the untitled fragment that was later called The Watsons in 1803 5, and it was published posthumously in 1871. Joan Aiken, well known for her Jane Austen sequels and children’s books, finishes the fragment, introducing a new hero and seamlessly continuing where Jane Austen left off to a satisfying ending for all Austen fans. Emma Watson returns home after 14 years spent with a beloved aunt, whose re marriage has caused a significant change in Emma’s circumstances. Used to a life of ease, warmth and intelligence, Emma is thrust back into a home where, with one exception, her sisters are petty and jealous, if not vulgar, her father is ill and weak, and her brothers are not men of fine minds. This is a poignant exploration of a young lady’s endurance in the face of reduced circumstances, and in true Jane Austen fashion, there is an admirable hero to make all right in the end.

Lady Catherine’s Necklace

Joan Aiken, one of Jane Austen’s most sparkling successors, takes up Austen’s pen yet again, this time continuing where Pride and Prejudice left off. In Austen’s classic novel, the arrogant Lady Catherine de Bourgh tried vehemently to prevent the betrothal of her nephew Mr. Darcy, whom she had intended for her daughter Anne, to the less socially connected Elizabeth Bennet. Defeated, she retreats to her grand estate Rosings Park. This enchanting sequel tells the story of what happens one balmy April day when a sudden blizzard disrupts the weather, causes a carriage accident, and affects the lives of all those involved in a most amazing way. From out of the blizzard emerge the Delaval siblings. Miss Delaval, having twisted her ankle in the carriage accident, accepts Lady Catherine’s gracious hospitality while she recovers. But the Delavals’ presence proves disturbing to the entire household first causing the removal of two artists from their cottage home on the de Bourgh property, then meddling in Miss Anne’s marriage plans. Suddenly, Lady Catherine is kidnapped, revealing some members of the household to be not at all what they seemed.

Trouble with Product X

Product X is a new perfume to be made by a’s mall company. All goes well with the promotion of the perfum e until it reaches the stage of TV advertising. Among the ”c ast” is the new Italian wife of the company”s boss, and arou nd her, intrigue mounts. ‘

Died on a Rainy Sunday

Called back to London on a special work assignment, a young woman has persistent misgivings about leaving her house and children in the care of the strange couple hired by her husband.

Midnight Is a Place

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.

The Shadow Guests

After the mysterious disappearance of both his mother and older brother, Cosmo is sent away to live with his eccentric mathematician aunt. Lonely and confused, Cosmo must also deal with being the new kid at school. Not an easy assignment! But things take a weird twist when Cosmo is visited by ghosts from the past. Ghosts who claim to need his help fighting an ancient curse!Only in time will Cosmo learn that he is at the center of that ancient…
and deadly…
curse.

The Haunting of Lamb House

A fictional account of the haunting of one of the most literary houses in history speculates on the supernatural dimensions of the house that inspired Henry James to write The Turn of the Screw.

Blackground

This black comedy is set in Venice on a film set and in a Greek fishing village recreated on the Devon coast and is written by the author of many thrillers, historical novels and a sequel to Jane Austen’s ‘Mansfield Park’. Her last novel was ‘Deception’.

Morningquest

When Pandora’s mother suddenly dies at a luncheon, the ten members of the Morningquest society immediately adopt her, and she matures in the midst of her unconventional but loving family. By the author of Jane Fairfax.

The Co*ckatrice Boys

What does a cockatrice enjoy most for dinner? Anyone it can find. So the alarmed inhabitants of England discover when a plague of monsters known as cockatrices invade their country and begin gobbling them up. They must be stopped! A plucky band of survivors dubbed the Co*ckatrice Corps including youngsters Dakin and Sauna decide to fight back. But how? A rollicking adventure filled with breathtaking twists and turns, The Co*ckatrice Boys is Joan Aiken at her comic best.

Fog Hounds, Wind Cat, Sea Mice

The Fog Hounds are silent, mysterious and deadly. They roam the land from dusk to dawn. No one who is chased by them ever lives to tell the tale. But Tad is not afraid. Tad wants one for himself, and when he comes face to face with a Fog Hound puppy, things can never be the same again. This is one of three adventure stories contained in this volume.

A Necklace of Raindrops

Here are eight gloriously imaginative stories for eight satisfying sessions of bedtime reading. There’s a flying apple pie, a cat that s bigger than an elephant, a house that lays an egg, storybook animals that leap out of their books at night, and a wealth of other wonderful characters and ideas, all with the colorful, dreamlike quality of the very best fairy tales. Joan Aiken s delicious prose is a joy to read aloud to very young listeners yet simple enough for the independent reader to savor on his or her own. Kevin Hawkes s illustrations nearly 60 of them capture with great flair and fun the magical adventures and the triumph of the good over the bad.

A Small Pinch of Weather

Imagine ordering a sunny day from the local weather witch, asking an apple tree to answer the telephone and making a beautiful garden out of old cereal boxes. What would you do if you inherited a real hair loom, or found three ugly old ladies and a dragon on your doorstep’ And would you need a bicycle if you had a unicorn to ride’ Anything is magically possible in these twelve short stories by gifted story teller Joan Aiken.

The Kingdom Under the Sea

A collection of eleven fairy tales from eastern Europe and the Soviet Union retold by a noted English author.

The Last Slice of the Rainbow

Audio Cassette, Random House Children’s Books

Past Eight O’Clock

A collection of eight short stories based on lullaby and bedtime song themes. This author/illustrator team have worked together on previous titles including ‘A Necklace of Raindrops’, ‘Tale of a One Way Street’ and ‘The Kingdom Under the Sea’ winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal 1971.

A Foot in the Grave

Contains eight stories including Sicilian Zia Tisna as she keeps watch over two young lovers, a highway lady’s baby crawling out of the River Thames, Uncle Avvie coming back from the swamp and Cousin Cherry’s encounter, in the supermarket, with an old school teacher.

Shadows and Moonshine

The prose of Joan Aiken, her uncanny ability to tell a great story in language that is classically beautiful, her fascinating characters, riveting dialogue, and compelling action, should be better appreciated. Like her father, Conrad Aiken, she is adept at a number of forms but is a master of the short story. In this fetching collection of what she herself considers thirteen of her best tales, she can be scary everyone knows her fascination with wolves and witches and poetic as in ‘Moonshine in the Mustard Pot’ or ‘The Lilac in the Lake’. But whatever she sets her hand to, it reads like the work of a master. And set against the lovely and luminous pencil drawings of Pamela Johnson, we have a a baker’s dozen of magical tales that will stay with readers long after the last page is turned and the lights turned out.

Haunting Christmas Tales

It is Christmas Eve and a group of friends are gathered around a fireside. The only light source is the fire the only sound the hiss of logs. Warmed by their intimacy a group of friends begin to tell ghost stories.

A Creepy Company

A spooky collection of ten terrifying and clever tales from the popular suspense author of Give Yourself a Fright guarantees thrills, chills, and maybe even a laugh or two.

Snow Horse

Joan Aiken was famous for her spine tingling ghost stories, and this collection presents five classic Aiken chillers in a new, accessible edition. Ghosts appear both in the strangest and most familiar places, but their effect is often the same, inspiring shock and chills in the characters and readers alike. None of these stories will be easily forgotten!

The Wooden Dragon

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 harbor, however, Handle gives Window a little wooden dragon and promises his sister that the dragon will look after her. And so the little dragon sits on a corner shelf, growing dusty, and waits for the time when he can come to Window’s aid.

The Way to Write for Children

In addressing ‘The Way to Write for Children,’ Joan Aiken starts at the beginning. Is writing a children’s book as simple as it looks? Do you want to write for children or about them? Do you want to write a picture book for young children, a book for new readers, or a chapter book for preteens? Why is Beatrix Potter so beloved? E. Nesbit? A. A. Milne? Maurice Sendak?

After more than fifteen years as a writing shelf classic, The Way to Write for Children has been completely revised and updated. From analysis of what makes the best loved children’s books so successful, to where to look for inspiration, to practical advice on how to structure a plot, Aiken delivers an extremely useful book for anyone who’s ever considered writing a children’s book.