Customer Reviews

Eva Ibbotson Gift Set, The

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British author Eva Ibbotson has gained a reputation for charming, funny light fantasy, and her popularity has only grown with the rise of books like "Harry Potter." This slipcased three-pack is a fun collection of Ibbotson's most popular titles: "The Secret of Platform 13," "Which Witch?" and "Island of the Aunts."

"The Secret of Platform 13" is that it has a secret doorway into a magical land -- and one day, the young Prince's nannies accidently lost him to a greedy woman who wanted a baby of her own. Many years later, a rescue squad sets out to bring back the young prince -- but can this rude, gluttonous, nasty boy be their long-lost prince? Or do they have the wrong boy?

"The Island of the Aunts" gives a new spin to "hidden" magical creature -- old ladies Etta, Coral and Myrtle live on an otherwise deserted island, caring for a group of magical creatures, including a selkie, mermaids, and a kraken. But the aunts are getting old, and so they decide that they'll get some children to help them care for the magical creatures. The problem is, they have to kidnap them...

In "Which Witch," wizard Arriman the Awful has to get married so he can produce a wizardly heir. The problem is, he has to marry a witch -- and the thought of marrying a repulsive crone makes his skin crawl. A contest is held to see who will be Arriman's wife, and poor white witch Belladonna thinks that her sweetness-and-light spells don't stand a chance. Can she manage something really nasty for the contest?

Sure, "Harry Potter" may be more popular, but Ibbotson's ogres, wizards, mermaids and plucky preteen boys were there first. These three books are probably among Ibbotson's best, although admittedly I have not read every single novel she's written.

Ibbotson has a knack for comedy and whimsy, sometimes with a slightly grotesque twist (such as a legendary skinless creature in "Platform" -- all organs on display). But the crisp prose keeps it steady and grounded, as if magical beasties and disgruntled wizards were all perfectly normal. In Ibbotson's fiction, they are.

Charming, funny and a bit goofy, these three books showcase Eva Ibbotson in fine form. Definitely something to check out.

Eva Ibbotson's world is a place where imagination abounds and witches and wizards live happily with ogres, hags, mermaids and krakens. In the tradition of Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling and E. Nesbit, these three novels are packed with crisp humor and droll characters. From the motley band of rescuers searching London for their missing prince in The Secret of Platform 13, to Belladonna, the young witch who needs to do something awful in order to win the hand of a handsome wizard in Which Witch?, to the three kindly old aunts who kidnap children to help care for the creatures living on the Island of the Aunts, these hilarious tales will sweep readers away to a world of pure fantasy and fun.

This is a great introductory set to Eva Ibbotson's entertaining writing. All three are well written, funny and appropriate for younger children. The books are recommended for ages 8 and up, but I think that many younger readers would also understand and appreciate this series, especially if they were read with a parent. Ibbotson does a very nice job of describing the different magical creatures and helping younger readers understand what is going on, but it is not in any way boring for older readers. These three books are not a series and do not share any of the same characters, but are a fun introduction to a wonderful fantasy author! Check these out while you wait for Ms. Rowling to finish the next Harry Potter book!

which whitch?, is one of the most delightfull books i have ever read. it has a series of sad events but also adventurous ones, this book can be for practically anyone, it has romance and fun at the same time. this book is about a normal family who find out they have a wizard baby! but the cankers will make shure to it that he is a good one. once arriman has grown up, and left his home he starts finding white hairs on his head! so arriman goes to see the gypsy, arriman was happy because once he got his reply from the gypsy he need not to worry "for the new wizard cometh" she kept saying and arri man wanted the black evil to continue at darkington hall where he moved but after a while he started getting worried for each day his wizard watcher said the new wizard did not cometh from the north, east, west or south. so then his secretarytold him that perhaps he should marry and have a wizard baby. arriman did nit like this but he had no choice or else the blackness and sorcery would not continue in his town of todcaster. but how to get the right whitch? a contest! whichever whitch could do the foulest , nastiest thing would win so when the contest began most of the whitches didn not doo what they said, they had failed. but madame olympia did not! she was extremely foul herself but what she did was much fouler. but when it came to the last whitch it was hard because this whitch was white but she had the best trick of all she was going to do something for arriman not gross but the darkest black magic there was. do necromanacie to bring back alive arrimans true freind sir montpelier, sir montpelier had seven wives and murdered htem all!she did it the white which belladona had done black magic! belladona had one the contest and became arrimans wife. i think everybody will love this story to the end because it is truly one of the books you can not set down!

I read these books quite a long time ago, and they're still on my shelves. Eva Ibbotson made me laugh and at the same time I couldn't put the book down. These books are like Harry Potter- I read Harry Potter first, and when I was looking for something to read, I found these books. I bought all three of them and do not regret it.
Perhaps it would be best to start with The Secrets of Platform 13- it was the one I liked best. Then if you find you like that style of books read Ibbotson, Funke, Rowling, Elizabeth Kay...

This is a nice way to own these three books. The stories are not connected and can be read in any order, they do not share the same characters or locations. But they do share a similar whimsical flavor that is hard to describe without reading yourself. I really enjoyed each of these books on their own very much, so much so that I returned to Amazon.com to buy this box set for my Aunt, another adult who enjoys childrens fantasy adventure yarns.