Ottoline Goes to School

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

by Chris Riddell

Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 9+

Published by Macmillan's Children's Books, 2015

Fantasy
Ghost story

About this book

When Ottoline meets Cecily Forbes-Lawrence III and her Patagonian pony, Mumbles she is immediately taken with her new friend. When she finds out Cecily goes to the Alice B Smith School for the Differently Gifted she is eager to enrol too. Ensuring her best friend Mr Munroe is by her side, the two set off for the new school immediately.

With a timetable of amusing lessons which include paper folding, giggling studies and advanced musing, there is much to keep everyone busy. Amongst friends with a host of unique skills and talents, Ottoline sets out to discover her own different gift.

Everything seems to be going well for Ottoline until a sleepover one night, during which Cecily tells them all about the ghost rumoured to haunt the school. When a series of strange events and accidents begin to occur it is down to Ottoline and Mr Munroe to solve the mystery.

The reader is a little wiser than the characters thanks to the humorous illustrations and this is an imaginative and beautifully illustrated book which teaches us all how important it is to discover our own unique talents.

About the author

Chris Riddell is an award-winning illustrator and acclaimed political cartoonist. He is currently the only artist to have won the Kate Greenaway Medal three times, most recently for his illustrations in Neil Gaiman's The Sleeper and the Spindle. He was recently announced as a BookTrust ambassador.

Chris Riddell has illustrated the work of many celebrated children's authors, including five Neil Gaiman titles and J. K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard. He is the author of the bestselling Goth Girl and Ottoline series and co-creator of the much loved The Edge Chronicles.

He was the Waterstones Children's Laureate from 2015 to 2017.