Customer Reviews

Beasts of Clawstone Castle

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was published in England in May 2005 and will release in USA in 2006. So I bought the British copy as I could not wait for another marvelous story from Eva to send me into stitches of laughter.

In the story a brother and sister, Madlyn and Rollo, are sent to stay with their kindly Uncle at his "Castle Clawstone" set in the Scottish Highlands. On arrival they find out the dreamy sounding castle is falling apart. The castle is under a huge debt and no funds are available for repair. There are friendly ghosts living in the castle, as well as some rare wild white cattle living on the property and they are at risk if the castle isn't saved. And who is the mysterious being hiding in the library? The siblings have auditions with ghosts to find the best ghosts to scare visitors to complete their plan to turn the castle into a haunted tourist attraction. As usual; Ibbotson's ghosts are nutty as they can be including the Bloodstained Bride ,a pair of hairy Scottish feet without a body, a girl cut in half in a magic act, and others. Madlyn turns out to be a natural financial genius and they start making money. But a neighbor has very evil plans for the cattle, and it will take every effort by the siblings and their new alllies to fight back. I highly reccommend!

Eva Ibbotson was an incredible writer, often laugh out loud funny, always amazinfly inventive. I am really sorry that unless someone finds unpublished stories among her archives, we will have no more new books from her silenced pen since she died in 2010. On the other hand, THIS book is a treasure trove for all ages. You don't have to be a middle school child to enjoy her books. Now that I am retired, I am on a quest to find all of her books that I missed earlier, and rereading (or,m in this case, relistening) to ones I enjoyed earlier. The woman knew how to tell a story, how to keep us on the edge of our seats and how to take us the readers on a most satisfying journey. Most of all, Ms. Innotson knew how to wrap it all up in excellent style at the end with the bad guys getting what was coming to them, and the characters you worried about so much ending in sometimes surprising happiness that they didn't even know to hope for.
I will say that I listened to this on my portable CD player in a darkened room, recovering from an accident, and I had to speed past a couple of honestly too-scary short sections. Maybe it was the meds I was on, and maybe in reading it, it would not have had such effect on me. Jenny Sterlin, the reader who performed all the parts, was terrific, all the voices very different and very right for each character and the particular emotion they felt in different scenes. Loved this book!

This is a wonderful story. I got it so that my fifth graders could listen to it, but I've kept it in my car. David Tennant's voice is a dream to listen to, which is the reason I decided to purchase it in the first place. I was not disappointed.
Several hours of an enchanted voice and a good story. You can't go wrong with that combination.

This is not my first time reading a book by this author. However, this is one of my most favorite books by her. It is the first time my daughter, age 10, read this author and she loved this book. She's looking forward to reading more by this author.

This is the story of two young children (a boy and a girl) who are shipped off to visit an aunt and an uncle. The aunt and uncle live in a castle with their other brother a ghost. They are keepers of the land that white cattle live on.

As the two young children make a new friend and learn that the castle is in danger of being foreclosed on; they gather some new ghost friends together, end up chasing down the cattle that were kidnapped and generally save the day.

This is an adorable story.
My daughter said she enjoys how it makes young kids feel like they can solve big problems.

Enjoy.

I find I always have to pause a bit with Eva Ibbotson's books - as they are pretty descriptive, but then I remember - oh, yes this is for THAT age group. I do enjoy Eva's plots and they do have different endings and different little things she wants us to learn about ourselves. I would recommend her.

Eva Ibbotson is a fun writer, esp. for those coming out of smaller chapter books and going on for their own enjoyment. Her stories are full of adventure, great imagination, and kids who take charge and are pro-active (to use today's PC words) about their worlds. There are adults in her stories, and with this story, some are good and some are NOT, but it is the kids who save the day. This story is interesting because it is a fantasy based on real creatures....the white cows. Great characters, cute and fun and funny, and an engaging plot....recommended.

My favorite Ibbotson is still the Star of Kazan. Beautiful story. Great for reading to 7-10 year olds. You can't really go wrong with Ibbotson!