Joan Aiken MBE – författare

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE WOLVES OF WILLOUGHBY CHASE'She's one of the most important and interesting children's fiction writers of the last fifty years' NEIL GAIMAN'What a thrill to discover this gem from the witty and endlessly inventive Joan Aiken' CHRIS RIDDELL'She is one of the writers I admire most in the world' KATHERINE RUNDELL'She was a literary treasure, and her books will continue to delight for years to come' PHILIP PULLMAN'The most swooningly romantic story you'll ever read - The Serial Garden' FRANK COTTRELL-BOYCE'I wish we'll have two children called Mark and Harriet. And I hope lots of interesting and unusual things will happen to them. It would be nice if they had a fairy godmother, for instance. And a phoenix or something out of the ordinary for a pet. We could have a special day for interesting and unusual things to happen - say, Mondays. But not always Mondays, and not only Mondays, or that would get a bit dull'As a result of their mother's honeymoon wish, Mark and Harriet Armitage have a fairy godmother, a pet unicorn and are prepared for anything life can throw at them (especially, but not always, on a Monday): hatching griffins in the airing cupboard, Latin lessons with a ghost, furious Furies on the doorstep and an enchanted garden locked inside a cereal packet. Life with the Armitages can be magical, funny, terrifying - but never, ever dull.'A delightful summary of one side of Aiken's talent: whimsical, funny, a series of brilliantly imaginative ideas stitched together with dream logic . . . It is the mixture of irrepressible gaiety and invention with the tragic that makes Aiken one of the great children's authors . . . impossible to calculate the number of people who have enjoyed her books - who have had some magic injected into the mundane' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE WOLVES OF WILLOUGHBY CHASE'She was a literary treasure, and her books will continue to delight for years to come' PHILIP PULLMAN'Witty and endlessly inventive' CHRIS RIDDELL'She's one of the most important and interesting children's fiction writers of the last fifty years' NEIL GAIMAN 'The Under People. They live in a huge Cave. They are thought to be boring upwards. Giant worms and flying ants. Underground magic'Mickle, the palace cat, knows the kingdom is in danger. He can feel it in his whiskers and he has found a mysterious note in the royal library ... (Yes, of course he can read, and speak - if he chooses to!) Mickle can't trust the King and Queen with his mission, so he and Prince Michael, with the help of their animal friends (and quite a bit of magic!), set out on a perilous quest to find the sinister Under People, discover their secret power and save the Kingdom of Astalon.In her first novel, written when she was only a teenager, Joan Aiken showcases the imagination, wit and storytelling zest that would lead to classics like Arabel's Raven and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.