The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories

by Joan Aiken (Illustrator)

This is the first complete collection of Joan Aiken's beloved Armitage stories. After Mrs. Armitage makes a wish, the Armitage family has "interesting and unusual" experiences every Monday: the Board of Incantation tries to take over their house to use as a school for young wizards; the Furies come to stay; and a cutout from a cereal box leads into a beautiful and tragic palace garden. Charming and magical, the uncommon lives of the Armitage family will thrill and delight readers young and old. Includes four unpublished stories, Joan Aiken's "Prelude" from Armitage, Armitage, Fly Away Home, as well as introductions from Joan Aiken's daughter, Lizza Aiken, and best-selling author Garth Nix.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult, Classics

448 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 2008

About the author

Joan 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.

Reviews

[Maren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joan Aiken is one of the most neglected and splendid Children's writers. Best-known for her Wolves Chronicles (starting with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase) about the adventures of children in a darkly Dickensian Alternate world in which James III rules England.

The tales in the Serial Garden are not as dark but just as inventive and fanciful. The short stories follow the adventures of the Armitage family. An ordinary British Family of the 1950s however Mrs. Armitage on her honeymoon thought happily ever after sounded a little dull and wished on a wishing stone that things would never be boring but they couldn't have adventures everyday so Mondays were good but not always on Monday because that would be boring too.

The adventures focus primarily on the Armitage children, Harriet and Mark who handle a variety of dangerous and magical happenings with a healthy share of creativity and calm British pluck. Whether a Unicorn appears in their garden, or their parents are turned into lady beetles or hatching a Griffin's egg in the linen closet the stories are full of humor and charm.

Aiken was one of those remarkable writers who wrote both for children and adults and her children's books are those that can easily be enjoyed by adults.

I was delighted to find this volume, which collects all the Armitage stories for the first time.

[Kate Coombs · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read a writer like Joan Aiken, I remember why I'm not giving five stars to a lot of other authors. Over the years, Aiken wrote a number of stories about the Armitage family, an "ordinary" British family who have a unicorn in the garden (shades of James Thurber!). Strange and magical things are especially likely to happen to the Armitages on Mondays, but occasionally they happen on different days, confusing everyone. For supposedly old-fashioned stories, these tales kick the booty out of most of what's being written today! Just to give you one example, watch for the delicious absurdity of two elderly druid brothers fighting over a bathmat made of beard hair, or the fact that the Borrowers-type small people in this book are fairly obnoxious and tacky, not darling. Then there's the poignancy of the title story... But whatever you do, remember that griffins are not only expensive pets, but heavy, and that quince trees are stolen for a reason.

[^ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional. My 'desert island' book. From my childhood I already knew and deeply loved several of the stories published here. But what inexpressible and absolute delight to find other Armitage stories that I was not previously acquainted with. Gaps in my knowledge of Armitage family 'history' have thus now been very satisfyingly filled in.

Much as I love my own parents, I should have adored to have had Mr and Mrs Armitage as parents. What fun that would have been! The Armitages are a close-knit family. They are utterly English. These stories (24) were published between 1953 and 2008; yet Mark and Harriet do not age significantly. One unquestioningly accepts as being perfectly normal; because these stories are that good.

This is beautiful, imaginative, humourous (sometime satiric), poetic, memorable, read-out-aloudable, absolutely brillient, writing. Don't miss it.

RIP Joan Aiken (1924-2004).

[MB (What she read) · Rating 5 out of 5]

1/23/09 intial read: If, like me, you've grown up reading Joan Aiken you will enjoy this book.

I've always loved the stories featuring the Armitage Family scattered through Joan Aiken's many anthologies for their whimsy and sheer fun. So it was truly wonderful to find them collected together for the first time! I revisted many old favorites and found several new to me. What a treasure!

Re-read in 2012.

And re-read again 7/22/14.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightfully odd! A whole collection of stories about a family who always have "interesting" things happen to them: like having their baby turned into an elephant, finding a unicorn in the back garden, or getting literally stuck in a tree, along with several cats, the postman, and a door-to-door salesman. Witches and alchemists causing mayhem in their village is par for the course, as is their friends, a family of people no more than eight inches high. I wasn't sure if my kids were enjoying these stories. (they're so much my jam), then one day my daughter said, "It's just soothing to listen to these funny little stories."

[Monica Edinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a bit skeptical when I heard about these because I'm not a big reader of short stories (sorry!) and so loved Aiken's children's novels that I didn't think these would hold up. Well, they do more than hold up. They are absolutely magical! Really. The Armitage family comes out of the tradition of families like those of Nesbit or Eager. There was for me even a tinge of the Peterkins in these stories (though, I assure you that these folks are not nearly as bumbling and there is no lady from Philadelphia to bail them out). The humor, often involving magic gone wrong, is in the vein of Diana Wynne Jones. There are sad moments too, say the one of the poor music teacher and another involving a baby goblin.I guess this is what is sometimes called domestic fantasy, stuff that happens with this family, in their small village that just seems to have witches, unicorns, and other magical stuff in the daily life of the place and people. Highly recommended.

[Mela]

These stories are more for children to read independently or with their parents. As an adult reading, years later, as a way to catch up on the classics (as was my case), I wasn't tempted to read them all. At least I tried.

[Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Książka jest absolutnie wybitna! Nie pamiętam TAKIEGO zastrzyku wyobraźni, świetnego języka (a to Ewa Rajewska), podszewki literackiej i odrobinki grozy. Cudo! Jedna z najlepszych książek ostatnich lat (chociaż niby dla dzieci).

[Lari Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may have just rediscovered the origin of my own fiction! This is the complete collection of all the Armitage stories, written by the fantasy writer Joan Aiken throughout her adult entire life, from the age of 18 in the early 1940s until just a few years ago. I read many of these stories in different collections when I was young, but never all together. As always when rereading something which inspired me when I was young, but which is now more of a warm fuzzy memory rather than something sharp and specific, I was a bit hesitant about reading this collection. And the first few stories were almost too short to get my teeth into, and almost devoid of tension - just lovely ideas stretched a little - but very quickly I was hooked again. The stories are about a seemingly ordinary family (English, middle class, boarding schools, maid and cook, etc – ie not ordinary in my world, but nevertheless an ordinary kind of literary Englishness) who constantly have the strangest magical things happen to them: furies on their doorstep, a ghost as a lodger, wizards requisitioning their house, unicorns on the lawn. And the children Harriet and Mark just deal with everything in the same matter of fact way.
There are wonderful ideas in here: the same apple causing problems all the way from Garden of Eden to Troy; how a witch copes with cooking children in a new fangled oven; the social awkwardness of going on a day trip with an invisible ghost.
Because these are short stories, most ideas are just touched on in passing, which can be frustrating – I would have loved to have spent more time in most of these stories. But you can see the origin of so much subsequent children’s fiction in the stunning imagination of Joan Aiken (and I’m now wondering if the centaur on the doorstep of my very first novel is a direct descendant of the unicorn in the Armitages’ garden…) A brilliant collection, and not just for adults revisiting their youth, or fantasy writers looking for the gold standard - my young daughter loved it too.

[Ghost Ryter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I'm ruined for Mondays now. The plain, ordinary, non-Armitage Mondays, that is--the kind that's no different than any other day. But...I don't suppose everyone can be so lucky as the Armitages and get Unicorns appearing on their lawns, or Druids fighting in the exterior bathroom you won in a contest from a soap company.

Besides, it wouldn't be any fun to have Furies waiting outside your door, or offended fairy ladies turning your cat into a werewolf. And who wants a Griffin for a pet anyway?

...Excuse me. I have to go look for a wishing stone.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: 25 stories about the Armitage family, a very strange family to whom strange things happen, mainly on Mondays, although not always. "The frozen cuckoo" is one of the weirdest of these stories. "Rocket full of pie" is very funny, without weirdness or magic. "Mrs. Nutty fireplace" is an original magic story about a curious exchange of rooms and a griffin egg.

ESPAÑOL: 25 cuentos sobre la familia Armitage, una familia muy extraña a la que les pasan cosas raras, especialmente los lunes, aunque no siempre. Uno de los cuentos más raros es "El cuco congelado". "Cohete lleno de tortas" es muy gracioso, sin nada mágico ni extraño. "La chimenea de la señora Nutty" es un cuento mágico muy original, sobre un curioso intercambio de habitaciones y un huevo de grifo.

[Tristan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ive been reading The Serial Garden with my younger sister all summer. The stories are occasionally a bit dated, but they are funny and smart and full of earnest emotion. Aiken's style is a tad stilted, but in a way that works, always adding to the humor, wit, and excitement of the tales. Aiken doesn't flinch away from darkness or serious concerns and she never talks down to her audience, but the stories (even the melancholy "Goblin Music" or the heartbreaking title story) never forget that children love humor with their resilience.

Aiken is a brilliant foreshadower and detail-weaver--like in "Rocket Full of Pie" where the titular rocket send mince-pies to the women trapped in the lighthouse, possible because the Women's Union was unable to dissuade Mrs. Slabb from bringing her rock cakes (so the lighthousemen unwittingly abandoned Mrs. Armitage's marvelous mince-pies); the weather-boats that Mark is so intent on, which results in him being denyed the trip to the lighthouse and thus present to shoot the rocket, saves the day by magically calming the weather; and the impossibly long scarf knitted by the Women's Union becomes a tightrope for the delivery of said weatherboat. At every turn you are greeted with another ingenious integration of a detail and Aiken is always able to surprise and delight. Choice moments include the arrival of the Furies ("The Apple of Touble") who "much cheered by their breakfast and a night spent in the snug kitchen, were singing their bloodthirsty hymn fortissimo, with much clashing of tambourines, the gift of a do-it-yourself dowsing set ("Harriet's Hairloom"), tea with ghosts ("Tea at Ravensburgh"), invisible backboards and non-existent caraway bisuits ("The Ghostly Governess"), and, of course, the entirety of "Yes, but Today Is Tuesday".

All of these are amomg my favorite entries in the collection, which covers the whole childhood and much of the adolescence of Mark and Harriet Armitage, along with the beautifully dark "Kitty Snickersnee", the side-splitting "Sweet Singeing in the Choir", and the adorable and amusing "Broomsticks and Sardines".

Highly recommended to all in spite of its dated entries and occasional displays of (as far as I can tell period-typical) problematic positions--which all exist in an uncertain space between satire and reproduction anyway.

[Robin Gaphni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks goes to our wonderful children's librarian who steered me to this utterly delightful series of short stories. Although many of the stories in Joan Aiken's The Serial Garden were originally published over fifty years ago, they were completely new to me. It's hard to believe I never discovered them before, and I'm sorry that my children (who are now teenagers) never had the pleasure of hearing them read aloud.

The Armitages are an English family in the 1950's who live a rather magical life. It all starts when Mrs. Armitage muses to Mr. Armitage on their honeymoon that she's worried that living happily ever after could be a bit boring. Serendipitously she finds a wishing stone and makes a wish that things won't be dull, and that interesting and unusual things will happen to them, perhaps on Mondays, but not always Mondays (because that could get boring too). She also wishes that her future children will have a fairy godmother. And that their house will have at least one ghost. Right then and there, the stories are born.

Fast forward twelve years or so, and you meet Harriet and Mark, their two plucky children who manage to handle all that comes their way with grace and humor. There are witches and unicorns and best friends who are six inches tall. Things often go awry, and yet these two continue on, seemingly unperturbed by the chaos that surrounds them. They are curious and fearless, whether they are encountering druid brothers fighting over a bathmat made of human hair, or magical gardens that grow out of cereal boxes. In one story, an invisibility cloak is even mentioned, and these were written years before Harry Potter came on the scene.

The stories are imaginative and well written, with surprise twists and turns on almost every page. Children who are avid readers will delight in visiting the world that Aiken has created. But, even more importantly, I think this would be a wonderful read aloud book for reluctant readers. Parents could read a story a night to a child, or teachers could read a story a day to a class. It's a classic example of great storytelling and begs to be read aloud. This is one book I think every family should own!

[Bloodorange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: a collection of Aiken's stories was one of my favourite books in my late childhood, and I was bound to be partial. I loved The Serial Garden to bits, for a few reasons apart from the excellent writing and the somewhat darkish feel of some of the stories.

I love how the author incorporates parents (and what parents!) into their children's adventures; whatever transpires at the Armitage's on Mondays (but sometimes other days, too) is a direct result of Mrs Armitage's honeymoon wish. Parents' characters (and not just Mrs and Mr Armitage) feel real to me. While I can imagine some voices of protests, I find fragments such as the one below - neighbours' reaction to having their three children turned into sheep - cathartic:

'Some peace and quiet will be a wonderful change, and I shan't have to mow the lawn.' To wife: "'Our kids have been turned into sheep, so you won't have to put them to bed. Dig out a long frock and we'll go to the Harvest Ball.' A shriek of delight greeted his words."

It's so good to see Aiken practice what she preaches in The Way to Write for Children: An Introduction to the Craft of Writing Children's Literature, giving her stories many levels for parents to enjoy and for children to discover with time. The story about the Furies ('The Apple of Trouble') and the description of adults' behavior when they see them (confessing their shameful deeds) is very entertaining.

I love the way Aiken represents magic as a normal, yet still exciting, part of life: Mr Armitage's conflict with a teacher who turns out to be a witch; elderly, irritable 'fairy ladies' from the neighbourhood, who take offence on the slightest provocation; a tame unicorn.

On a final, politically current, note: 'Goblin Music' is a great story to introduce children to the immigrant crisis. Serious - a death (accidental) is involved - but effective.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do not take seriously, except the bits that give you pleasure to do so. Anything negative you feel is something that she's tweaking the nose of, satirizing. Maybe fans of Wodehouse/ Jeeves would appreciate? I'm surprised at myself being able to let go of my stick-in-the-mud pragmatism and just dive into these. Think of the firm of Wright, Wright, Wright, Wright, and Wrong. Think of the riddle What's sadder than a lost child? I do hope for at least one magical Monday for you.
---
Reread. I can't believe I've already read it twice, and so recently; it still seems so fresh this time on Libby/Overdrive as an ebook. The title story is so very sad. Others are silly, or clever, or would provoke discussion. And Aiken does write so beautifully. I still love the opening bit.

Well. I still love every bit of it. And will continue to look for Aiken's short stories. And read it again someday, probably sooner rather than later.

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only one and a half stories left, and I don't want it to end.

The stories are so funny and delightful, and I say this as a person who dislikes short stories. Perfect mini fantasy tales which were also enjoyed by my six year old.

[Jamie Dacyczyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Alas, I'm not the audience for this book, and I don't have the nostalgia of having grown up with it. This is very much in the vein of Roald Dahl, Diane Wynne Jones, Ruth Chew, a bit of "The Phantom Tollbooth", "Freaky Friday", and others that I can't put my finger on. It's very mid-century children's literature, full of unexplained nonsensical fantastical elements (and the occasional sexist or fatphobic comment). I KNOW if I'd read this as a kid, I would have reread these stories over and over. Unfortunately, I've missed the boat a bit, so while these stories were entertaining and whimsical, I didn't love them. Some of these stories are pure fluff, while others are pretty dark. I think a certain kind of child today will love these stories.

It was given to me by a friend (signed by my favorite author), so naturally I had to read it. I read about halfway through, and then jumped around a bit, making sure to at least read the titular story.

[Chad D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost returned this book to an English bookstore; glad I didn't.

A book of very strange children's stories, zanily imaginative. Mark, Harriet, and their parents star.
Highlights: 'The Apple of Trouble' and the titular 'The Serial Garden.' These children are used to marvels, especially on Monday, and handle them unflappably. There's a nice tension between their utter lack of surprise and the readers' perpetual surprise. Not all the stories are equally tidy in design, and it probably wouldn't do to read a whole bunch at once, but the book is highly enjoyable in small doses.

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Armitage family is cursed with the gift of never being bored. This collection of short stories--very short, many only 10 pages--follows their whimsical adventures, like the plague of unicorns in the garden, or the time ornery witches transformed the parents into ladybugs. The success is in its continuity: later stories nod at previous events and to events unchronicled (noodle incidents that parallel the ridiculous truth of known events), creating a necessary sense of consequence to endings which are often glib or sudden. But aren't always, and those moments of tragedy are startling.

I began by comparing this collection to cookies, as slight, sweet, and easy to binge; perhaps as empty. But it grew on me. Perhaps not enough: Aiken's style, whimsical fantasy/gothic in early-to-mid-1990s England, isn't my style--too charming, too satirical. And the events don't accumulate into anything hugely robust--this isn't Diana Wynne Jones, whose madcap adventures (of similar styling) grow to thunderous conclusions. But I was sorry to see the collection end--it's consistent and enjoyable, and has the sense that it could go on forever.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

While other girls were reading Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary, I was reading Joan Aiken and Madeline L'Engle. The real life girls and their problems with periods and big sisters were all very well, and I enjoyed reading about them, but the girls and boys with pet unicorns and the ability to travel in time, well. They added something to my life I didn't have to worry about. Their's was a world I could escape into and forget all about the horrors of middle school.

So it was nice to see that all of the Armitage Family stories had been collected, and I could escape being a Mom and be that 12/13 year old girl again for a couple of days, The stories, which Aiken began writing in the fifties, hold up, they don't feel dated, and I was never bored or felt like the stories, in which the fantastical can at time be fun and escapist, but at others dark and threatening, were talking down to their audience. People and animals die, are threatened. People steal, and cheat. But they also have ghosts for godparents, ride unicorns, and never have a boring life. And that's good reading, at any age.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because of a wish Mrs. Armitage made while she and Mr. Armitage were on their honeymoon, Mark and Harriet Armitage and their parents have a series of magical, surprising things happen to them, generally on Mondays: unicorns, witches, spells, fairy godmothers, dragons, griffins, and even twenty-three duchesses and a swimming pool full of pink ice cream. These stories were really delightful, and I can't imagine how I've missed reading any of them all these years (probably my fault for tending to avoid short story collections even by favorite writers). They're quirky and fanciful, and I especially love how, in a very Aikenish way, every odd occurrence is simply taken for granted. I'd find it hard to choose a favorite, but the title story, "The Serial Garden", stays in my mind because of its poignant ending.

[Jared Shurin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely glorious. Whimsical and joyous and really very perfect.

(For folks shopping for kids, it is worth noting that both of the young Armitage children - Mark and Harriet - have equally fun, active, and interesting adventures which is always really nice to see.)

[Shannon (That's So Poe)]

NFN (Not For Now) @ 10%
I picked this up when life was stressful and I couldn't concentrate on anything I was reading. I tried to read this, but also couldn't concentrate on it! I liked the idea of sort of surrealist, absurd magic and ridiculous stories about a family that has crazy things happen to it, but I just couldn't get into it at the time (I just felt rather detached). I'm going to have to try it again when I'm in a different mood.

[Ola G · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.5/10 stars

Delightful short stories, very British, and I finally know where JK Rowling took many of her ideas for Harry Potter from ;).
Full review to come in November.

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review for Witch Week 2024: https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...

[Diana Holdridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming and witty short stories by Joan Aiken. Magical adventures for the Armitage family.
Never read these before, they are early works of Joan Aiken. So glad I found them!

[Piret Dahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

See raamat sobib nii hästi kokku Suurbritannia maastikega, et mõjub lihtsalt täiesti usustavalt. Küllap nii oligi tegelikult: ühel teisipäeval tuli ükssarvik ja jäi, (ja alguses keegi ei uskunud, sest ebatavalised asjad pidid ju hoopis esmaspäeviti juhtuma). Ja heki taga avalikul jalgrajal kasvab peeglipuu, mille säravad lehed annavad igaühele selle, mida ta üle kõige soovib - kui puu on piisavalt suureks kasvanud. See peab olema tõsi - ma ise nägin seda hekki ja seda jalgrada.

[GeraniumCat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enchanting. I am not a huge fan of short stories, but in this collection the stories are linked because they are all about the same family, so they read more like an episodic novel. This leads to a couple of inconsistencies, but nothing that matters: you simply accept that they were written over a long period, when the author felt like adding to them. They are a little like the Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones, with more than a touch of Harry Potter, but they are light and funny and charming, and I didn't at all want to finish them!

[Len · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to read this collection from beginning to end in the order the stories are printed. They are not strictly arranged chronologically but they are close enough to get a feeling of their development from the 1950s to 2008. In the earlier stories allowances have to be made for the background images of family life. Daddy goes out to work while Mummy stays home to do the housework, the cooking and caring for the children, with the Women's Institute for a diversion if she must have one. Thank heaven Mrs. Armitage finds a wishing-stone in the story Prelude and adds magic to everyone's life.

The early stories are full of sparky magic and witchery. The children, Harriet and Mark, experience delightful adventures, often a little bit scary but never too much so. The stories are very fairytale in quality. However, as time passes, a darker side creeps in with unexpected deaths, challenging endings, dangerous witches and magic that can turn against we poor mortals. While an 8 or 9 year old reader would lap up Doll's House to Let, The Frozen Cuckoo or Dragon Monday, some later stories such as Kitty Snickersnee, The Serial Garden or Don't Go Fishing on Witches' Day would be better in the hands of 11 or 12 year olds.

My own favourites were The Ghostly Governess, a near perfect little ghost story which is not meant to scare but to ensnare one in a web of masterful storytelling. The ghost, a governess from Victorian times, does not appear to the children due to tragedy or to seek revenge. She needs only one piece of good news to give her a peaceful rest. The Land of Trees and Heroes is closer to a mythological tale than a fairytale. Mark and Harriet intrude on otherworld controlled by Selene and it falls to Harriet to try and rescue her brother after he falls under the Silver Lady's spell. It is traditional storytelling but of a very high order.

Goblin Music and Don't Go Fishing on Witches' Day bring in more emotionally testing moments. Goblin Music is about the Niffel people, a goblin tribe desperately seeking a new home. All goes well until, one day, little Dwiney, a goblin child befriended by Harriet and Mark, runs out on to the road just as a group of motorbike riders is coming. The result is so abrupt it is quite shocking in a story for children. Don't Go Fishing on Witches' Day brings in every parent's great fear. Mark goes out early one morning to fish and doesn't come home at his usual time. What has happened is all magical of course, but there is a spell when Mr. and Mrs. Armitage have to face the possibility that the real world may have claimed their son. It expands a fairytale to a higher level.

One other story I have to mention is Harriet's Birthday Present. First published in 1953 it does have a dark side to it. The Brothers Grimm are heavily involved as Mark is tricked into the clutches of a witch who loves children - ideally roasted with herbs and served with redcurrant jelly after peeling. Mark's mission was to find a present for his sister. So, after all the adventures, what was that very important present? Well, we meet Joan Aiken at her most playful at the end.

An excellent collection for bedtime reading or for settling down in a comfy armchair on a cold, drizzly day, pulling your feet up, and allowing one of the great modern storytellers take over your imagination.

[Eva Mitnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

My expectations were very, very high, so it's not surprising that the first two stories didn't instantly meet them. But I kept reading, and by the end of the collection, I was a citizen of that strange little English village inhabited by a large family of 6" people, a unicorn, a multitude of witches (er, I mean old fairy ladies), druids, and plenty of ordinary folks who mostly manage to live and let live, so far as their magical neighbors are concerned. Lucky, lucky Mark and Harriet, to be able to face up to amazing magical people and situations with plenty of breezy aplomb - and to have parents tolerant of, if not always thrilled with, the chaos that magic can bring.

These are the kind of stories that make the drab sidewalks and humdrum houses of one's own neigborhood sparkle with the possibility of magic. And although most of it is benign, some of it might be unknowing or careless of the human world and some might be altogether malevolent. As far as that last goes, the worst things that happen in these stories are brought about not by evil magic but by human error, as when Mrs. Armitage horrifyingly destroys the last known garden in which Mr. Johansen's love is trapped (luckily a chance of a happy ending comes in a later story) or when a gnome child is accidentally run over and killed. These tragedies shook me up badly and reminded me that life, even in lighthearted children's fantasy stories, has a way of being unexpected.

These are quirky, unpredictable, and veddy British stories. I'm devastated that now (unless more are found in a trunk somewhere) I've read all the Armitage stories that exist. I'll just have to read them all again someday. Recommended for fans of E. Nesbit, Edward Eager, and any fantasy that features ordinary kids in magical situations.