Eva Ibbotson
Born in Vienna, Eva Ibbotson came to England as a small girl. She spent much of her adult life in Newcastle upon Tyne. When her husband was alive he bred snails in the garage; they also kept fish and had a small and very hairy dog. Eva had four grown-up children and seven grandchildren. She wrote for both adults and children. Which Witch was runner-up for the Carnegie Medal and The Secret of Platform 13 was shortlisted for the Smarties Prize. Journey to the River Sea won the Smarties Book Prize Gold Award, was runner-up for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and the Guardian Fiction Award, and was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
Books
A Song for Summer
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Interest age: 11-13
Reading age: 11+
A deliciously old-fashioned story, which encompasses love, adventure and a host of memorable characters.
Dial A Ghost
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Interest age: 7+
Reading age: 8+
Fulton Snodde-Brittle has gone to the Dial A Ghost agency with a fiendish plan - he wants to hire some terrifying ghosts to scare his 10-year-old nephew Oliver to death.
Journey to the River Sea
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 10+
Orphan Maia is thrilled to learn she is to live with relatives in South America and cannot wait to experience the sights, sounds and smells of the Amazon.
One Dog and His Boy
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Illustrator: Sharon Rentta
Publisher: Marion Lloyd Books
Interest age: 7+
Reading age: 8+
All Hal wants for his birthday is a dog and when he is given one he is overjoyed. But when Hal realises Fleck was only his for the weekend, he sets off on an adventure with the dog...
The Abominables
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Publisher: Marion Lloyd Books
Interest age: 7-8
Reading age: 9+
The incomplete manuscript of this irresistibly charming story was found amongst Eva Ibbotson's papers at her death in 2010.
The Beasts of Clawstone Castle
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Publisher: Macmillan Children's books
Interest age: 7-8
Reading age: 7+
Madlyn and Rollo are despatched to live for the summer with their reclusive elderly relatives in decrepit Clawstone Castle.
The Ogre of Oglefort
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Interest age: 8+
Reading age: 9+
The Hag, the Troll, Dr Brainsweller and a most unmagical orphan, Ivo, are despatched to dangerous lands to slay the flesh-eating Ogre of Oglefort and rescue the princess.
The Secret Countess
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Interest age: 11+
Reading age: 10+
The Russian revolution sees Anna's father killed and their old way of life gone forever. Along with her mother, brother and governess, she flees the country finding refuge in England...
The Star of Kazan
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Publisher: Macmillan Children's books
Interest age: 8+
Reading age: 8+
Rescued by a Viennese cook, an abandoned baby girl is taken to the house of three eccentric professors, where she is raised by the servants. Then suddenly, her mother arrives to claim her...
Which Witch?
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Publisher: Macmillan Children's books
Interest age: 8+
Reading age: 8+
Arriman the Awful (Wizard of the North) needs a wife, so he organises a spell-casting competition to find 'Miss Witch of Todcaster' to be his bride.