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Arabel and Mortimer #10-13
Mortimer Says Nothing
Four adventures of Arabel and her pet raven Mortimer: Mortimer Says Nothing / Arabel's Birthday / Mr. Jone's Rest Cure / A Call at the Joneses'.
185 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
2 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Joan Aiken
332 books602 followersJoan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.
She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).
Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.
Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.
Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.
Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.
She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).
Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.
Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.
Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.
Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 6, 2024
I really needed something to make me laugh after my maternal Aunt Rita passed away recently and thankfully Joan Aiken came to the rescue with her conceited raven Mortimer in this omnibus book titled ‘Mortimer Says Nothing’!
I got this absolutely hilarious book at one of my local lending libraries that I’m a regular at and it saved me from crying myself ill 24/7 in November 2024. My advice at this point to any reader reading this review is that, if by any chance you land up with a death in your family and you are grieving and need to still go to work without getting a nervous breakdown in front of your boss – then please read the Mortimer series and chuck C.S. Lewis’ and other Christian grief manuals out of the window! I think I’m qualified enough to say this!
Plus, if you generally want a good laugh without something totally outlandish in your book or anything political then Joan Aiken and her Raven is your ticket to smiles galore.
My copy had four of the Mortimer stories in one namely – ‘Mortimer Says Nothing’, ‘Arabel’s Birthday’, ‘Mr. Jones Rest Cure’ and ‘A Call at the Joneses’. They were all excellent comic relief for an aching heart and the perfect antidote to dispel the blues away.
My favourite among them was definitely ‘Mr. Jones’s Rest Cure’ because it had a char machine in it which made excellent hot coffee and tea, and which played a crucial part in the story. Besides, I adore these two beverages and just can’t have enough of them. That story was relatable because I felt like I needed a rest cure myself after this really mad year of hectic work and study. It was funny, delicious and Mortimer was a sweetheart of a wicked raven in that one!
My favourite character in the series would be the 5-year-old little girl called Arabel, as I need someone as practical as her in my life! I seem to be surrounded by these inquisitive and nosey elderly elitist Church ladies (like in the Mortimer series) and they can all one day drive me to a grave next to my Aunt Rita! Their ‘Speculative Fiction’ could give some writers like J.K. Rowling, George R. R. Martin and Frank Herbert a run for their money!
You will find plenty of such overly inquisitive, elderly, ‘very community minded’ lady church folk in the first book in this omnibus titled ‘Mortimer Says Nothing’. If it were not for these women existing on our planet, probably by now Elon Musk would have already reached Mars and may have even built an escalator from the Earth to get there!
My favourite scene in the omnibus would be in the fourth book titled ‘A Call at the Joneses’ where Mrs. Jones has a nervous breakdown because of a prank caller cum ‘want to be’ (I refuse to type ‘wanna be’ in the main sentence! It goes against my grain - and we suffer from plenty of famines here in my country, so I’ve got to save what ‘grain’ I have left!) blackmailer reminded her about something ‘bad-bad-bad’ she did a long time ago. What happens to that incorrigible prank caller was worth the read!
A delightful, rejuvenating, hilarious, charming and exquisite collection of totally British humour is what this omnibus and all the Mortimer books are all about. It easily gets 5 stars from me. Now I need to read the rest of the series!
I got this absolutely hilarious book at one of my local lending libraries that I’m a regular at and it saved me from crying myself ill 24/7 in November 2024. My advice at this point to any reader reading this review is that, if by any chance you land up with a death in your family and you are grieving and need to still go to work without getting a nervous breakdown in front of your boss – then please read the Mortimer series and chuck C.S. Lewis’ and other Christian grief manuals out of the window! I think I’m qualified enough to say this!
Plus, if you generally want a good laugh without something totally outlandish in your book or anything political then Joan Aiken and her Raven is your ticket to smiles galore.
My copy had four of the Mortimer stories in one namely – ‘Mortimer Says Nothing’, ‘Arabel’s Birthday’, ‘Mr. Jones Rest Cure’ and ‘A Call at the Joneses’. They were all excellent comic relief for an aching heart and the perfect antidote to dispel the blues away.
My favourite among them was definitely ‘Mr. Jones’s Rest Cure’ because it had a char machine in it which made excellent hot coffee and tea, and which played a crucial part in the story. Besides, I adore these two beverages and just can’t have enough of them. That story was relatable because I felt like I needed a rest cure myself after this really mad year of hectic work and study. It was funny, delicious and Mortimer was a sweetheart of a wicked raven in that one!
My favourite character in the series would be the 5-year-old little girl called Arabel, as I need someone as practical as her in my life! I seem to be surrounded by these inquisitive and nosey elderly elitist Church ladies (like in the Mortimer series) and they can all one day drive me to a grave next to my Aunt Rita! Their ‘Speculative Fiction’ could give some writers like J.K. Rowling, George R. R. Martin and Frank Herbert a run for their money!
You will find plenty of such overly inquisitive, elderly, ‘very community minded’ lady church folk in the first book in this omnibus titled ‘Mortimer Says Nothing’. If it were not for these women existing on our planet, probably by now Elon Musk would have already reached Mars and may have even built an escalator from the Earth to get there!
My favourite scene in the omnibus would be in the fourth book titled ‘A Call at the Joneses’ where Mrs. Jones has a nervous breakdown because of a prank caller cum ‘want to be’ (I refuse to type ‘wanna be’ in the main sentence! It goes against my grain - and we suffer from plenty of famines here in my country, so I’ve got to save what ‘grain’ I have left!) blackmailer reminded her about something ‘bad-bad-bad’ she did a long time ago. What happens to that incorrigible prank caller was worth the read!
A delightful, rejuvenating, hilarious, charming and exquisite collection of totally British humour is what this omnibus and all the Mortimer books are all about. It easily gets 5 stars from me. Now I need to read the rest of the series!
November 2, 2018
The fourth collection of stories about the adventures of a young girl named Arabel Jones, and her raven companion, Mortimer. In Mortimer Says Nothing, Mrs. Jones is thrown into a tizzy by the selection of her kitchen as the meeting place for the Rumbury Ladies' Kitchen Club. Needless to say, having Mortimer underfoot doesn't help matters... In Arabel's Birthday, Arabel's obnoxious cousin Annie comes to stay with the Jones family. In Mr. Jones's Rest Cure, a family trip to Wales provides Mortimer with the opportunity to help capture a vandal. And in A Call at the Joneses', Arabel puts an end to a series of crank calls.
This was the final collection of stories about Arabel and Mortimer published in the United States, although I believe that there were some further adventures published in Britain, and co-written with the author's daughter, Lizza Aiken. I also believe that there was a television series in Britain, based upon these stories. Like the preceding three collections, Mortimer Says Nothing is illustrated by Quentin Blake, and provides a wonderful reading series for the beginning chapter-book reader. There were some moments of real hilarity in this one, as when a foreign ornithologist fails to tempt Mortimer to croak his habitual "Nevermore" into a recorder.
This was the final collection of stories about Arabel and Mortimer published in the United States, although I believe that there were some further adventures published in Britain, and co-written with the author's daughter, Lizza Aiken. I also believe that there was a television series in Britain, based upon these stories. Like the preceding three collections, Mortimer Says Nothing is illustrated by Quentin Blake, and provides a wonderful reading series for the beginning chapter-book reader. There were some moments of real hilarity in this one, as when a foreign ornithologist fails to tempt Mortimer to croak his habitual "Nevermore" into a recorder.
April 25, 2025
A favorite back in the day - it’s as good or better as I remember it!
October 26, 2024
More Arabel and Mortimer stories, reliably hilarious. Aiken gives her imagination free reign in the title story, featuring a professor who wants to record Mortimer saying “Nevermore” (thus the title: refusing to say anything because someone wants you to speak is exactly Mortimer’s level of humor), an army of migrating mice, and a cat burglar who is a literal cat. “Arabel’s Birthday” pits Mortimer against another of Arabel’s nasty cousins: I assume that these stories (there are a few) are included largely to make it seem that there are worse things than having a daughter with a highly destructive pet raven. “Mr. Jone’s Rest Cure” sees the family head off to Wales, with Mortimer (and his wasp collection) solving another mystery. “A Call from The Joneses” is the least memorable, perhaps because a telephone prankster is not the kind of villain Mortimer can tangle with directly, but the other supporting characters are perfectly capable of being quite funny on their own without his help. As is the case with all the books in this series, I whizzed through it, alternatively chuckling and laughing my fool head off.
July 5, 2018
I love Mortimer and Arabel! And Arabel's parents the Joneses, and Runbury Town where their adventures take place. Which is why this last collection of Arabel & Mortimer stories was so painful. IT WAS THE LAST ONE!
Mortimer Says Nothing finds our roguish raven thwarting the bird-recording dreams of Professor Glibchick by uncharacteristically saying nothing, while Mrs. Jones frantically prepares for a lunch party, not knowing that the mice of Cantilever Green are migrating en masse to her house even as she fails to make her mayonnaise thicken. This wonderful story also features Archibald the cat, a former burglar's mog who competes with Mortimer mischief-for-mischief. He flattens Mrs. Jones's meringues. He eats all her prawns. He destroys her goose-feather pillows. But can he save all of Runbury Town from the mice of Cantilever Green?
"Arabel's Birthday" was the most frustrating of all these stories. In it, Arabel's horrid cousin Annie--flaxen curls, gooseberry eyes, and spoiled rotten--ruins Arabel's birthday and tries to kill Mortimer, inside the carrying case he's supposed to be in, with fireworks. Meanwhile, Mortimer is happily foiling the a desperate gang of burglars hiding out in the Jones's house. Unbeknownst to the Jones, who think Mortimer has exploded. My two HUGE complaints with this story are that a) Annie is not punished or even revenged upon for her horridness, and b) we (and the Joneses) are never told exactly how Mortimer terrorized the gang of desperadoes into calling the police for help! That's comedic gold being passed over, right there! TELL ME WHAT MORTIMER DID THAT'S WHY I READ THESE STORIES TO SEE MORTIMER MISBEHAVE IN A WAY THAT SAVES THE DAY! Rant over.
"Mr. Jones's Rest Cure" finds the Joneses in Wales, and Mortimer happily collecting stunned wasps. The comedic climax comes sweetly and simply, with Mortimer adjusting the Jones's alarm clock at their bed and breakfast so that Mr. Jones inadvertently discovers the vandal marking up his car with yellow paint in the middle of the night. Mortimer's collection of wasps, no longer stunned, make complete his victory.
"A Call at the Joneses'" has a prank caller upsetting the peace on a Saturday at the Joneses' home. Mr. and Mrs. Jones take to using a police whistle on the phone, and thence all their relatives send the police, worried that something terrible is going on. The finale comes with the discovery of a dead-drunk Mortimer, lolling happily inside a quick-fix margarita mix.
All thirteen Arabel & Mortimer stories are must-reads for the fan of British children's literature. They are sweet, satiric, clever, snarky, and haphazardly-plotted tales of a girl and her raven; with wonderful illustrations by Quentin Blake (of Roald Dahl books fame) that set a smiling, goofy, mischievous look for Mortimer that you can't picture him without.
Worth a read, and a re-read, Mortimer and Arabel's stories are timeless misadventures that can be discovered with delight time and time again.
Mortimer Says Nothing finds our roguish raven thwarting the bird-recording dreams of Professor Glibchick by uncharacteristically saying nothing, while Mrs. Jones frantically prepares for a lunch party, not knowing that the mice of Cantilever Green are migrating en masse to her house even as she fails to make her mayonnaise thicken. This wonderful story also features Archibald the cat, a former burglar's mog who competes with Mortimer mischief-for-mischief. He flattens Mrs. Jones's meringues. He eats all her prawns. He destroys her goose-feather pillows. But can he save all of Runbury Town from the mice of Cantilever Green?
"Arabel's Birthday" was the most frustrating of all these stories. In it, Arabel's horrid cousin Annie--flaxen curls, gooseberry eyes, and spoiled rotten--ruins Arabel's birthday and tries to kill Mortimer, inside the carrying case he's supposed to be in, with fireworks. Meanwhile, Mortimer is happily foiling the a desperate gang of burglars hiding out in the Jones's house. Unbeknownst to the Jones, who think Mortimer has exploded. My two HUGE complaints with this story are that a) Annie is not punished or even revenged upon for her horridness, and b) we (and the Joneses) are never told exactly how Mortimer terrorized the gang of desperadoes into calling the police for help! That's comedic gold being passed over, right there! TELL ME WHAT MORTIMER DID THAT'S WHY I READ THESE STORIES TO SEE MORTIMER MISBEHAVE IN A WAY THAT SAVES THE DAY! Rant over.
"Mr. Jones's Rest Cure" finds the Joneses in Wales, and Mortimer happily collecting stunned wasps. The comedic climax comes sweetly and simply, with Mortimer adjusting the Jones's alarm clock at their bed and breakfast so that Mr. Jones inadvertently discovers the vandal marking up his car with yellow paint in the middle of the night. Mortimer's collection of wasps, no longer stunned, make complete his victory.
"A Call at the Joneses'" has a prank caller upsetting the peace on a Saturday at the Joneses' home. Mr. and Mrs. Jones take to using a police whistle on the phone, and thence all their relatives send the police, worried that something terrible is going on. The finale comes with the discovery of a dead-drunk Mortimer, lolling happily inside a quick-fix margarita mix.
All thirteen Arabel & Mortimer stories are must-reads for the fan of British children's literature. They are sweet, satiric, clever, snarky, and haphazardly-plotted tales of a girl and her raven; with wonderful illustrations by Quentin Blake (of Roald Dahl books fame) that set a smiling, goofy, mischievous look for Mortimer that you can't picture him without.
Worth a read, and a re-read, Mortimer and Arabel's stories are timeless misadventures that can be discovered with delight time and time again.
February 15, 2021
re-reading (for the millionth time?) February 2021. Mrs. Jones attempts to prepare for an important social event while being tortured by mice, Arabel celebrates a birthday, the Jones' go on vacation, and the town is plagued by menacing prank phone calls. Mortimer continues to eat everything.
Review, April 2011:
my sister read these to me when i was a little kid and they're just as great to me now. i believe this is the third book about little arabel and her unorthodox pet- a raven named mortimer who gets into no end of trouble.
Review, April 2011:
my sister read these to me when i was a little kid and they're just as great to me now. i believe this is the third book about little arabel and her unorthodox pet- a raven named mortimer who gets into no end of trouble.
January 17, 2023
Mortimer takes a vow of silence, mice organize into an army and everyone gets PTSD
January 5, 2010
This another great series from my childhood. Joan Aiken combines thoughtful storytelling to a Roald Dahl-type comedic story. There never is really any theme expressed, other than that no one is smarter than this raven (who, consequently, never says more than one word throughout the series). Though simpler writing fits it for more of a younger teen audience, the series can still be appreciated for its witty slapstick humor.
February 14, 2014
The description of Archibald the cat sleeping on the painstakingly assembled meringues made me cringe and laugh. Then I howled when Archibald appears to Mortimer covered with sticky crumbs and feathers and they proceed to have a friendly tussle followed by an ecstatic grooming session. Tears of joy.
June 18, 2008
A collection of several short stories about the same family--I only read the first one, which was manic and silly and fun. But then I was done.
March 30, 2009
Grades 4+
June 20, 2009
Four adventures of Arabel and her pet raven Mortimer. So outrageous it was funny.
March 16, 2010
Possibly even funnier than "Arabel's Raven". Aiken's books about Mortimer are to be savored.
Want to read
December 4, 2010book 4 of 5 in joan aiken's arabel + mortimer series
March 14, 2013
Very funny, charming, delightful. I liked it better than the Wolves of Willoughby Chase.
March 7, 2016
Funny, very British, little 'slice of life' stories. Possible readalouds.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews