Arabel and Mortimer Stories

by Joan Aiken, Quentin Blake (Illustrations)

Arabel and her notorious raven Mortimer make a welcome return to the Puffin nest! When Arabel's father, Ebenezer Jones, drives his taxi home late one night he comes across 'a large black bird, with a hairy fringe around its beak.' He takes it home and from that moment on, life is never the same again for the Jones family. Arabel's raven is called Mortimer - and he's one in a million. 'Nevermore!' he cries when astonished or upset, 'Down the hatch' he thinks before gobbling bowler hats, stairs, telephones. He dislikes flying except in emergencies, and with disaster-prone Mortimer around there are plenty of those.
There are six hilarious stories in this classic collection by the much-loved storyteller Joan Aiken and renowned illustrator Quentin Blake.
ARABEL'S RAVEN; THE ESCAPED BLACK MAMBA; THE BREAD BIN; MORTIMER'S TIE; MORTIMER AND THE SWORD EXCALILBUR and THE SPIRAL STAIR.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Animals

368 pages, Paperback

Published June 6, 2019

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

[Iona Sharma]

This is a collected edition of the first six Arabel and Mortimer books, and it is just as funny, unhinged and anarchic as it was when I was small. I love Arabel and her raven, and the little north London district of Rumbury Town, NW3 1/2! And while it has dated in the sense I can't imagine buying a doughnut for 10p now, in most ways it hasn't at all; it's as fresh and irreverent as you could hope for.

[Veronica Molina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo pasé muy bien y me reí mucho con las personalidades de los personajes. Mortimer se lleva todo el protagonismo con sus actitudes, y me encanta lo curioso e inteligente que es.
Me gusta cómo pasa a ser tan cotidiano y normal tener a un cuervo que no le gusta volar en casa, quien pasa dejando destrozos pero de las maneras más ingeniosas. Y me encanta que, en historias como la del zoo, Mortimer no es quien salva el día, sino que anda en lo suyo buscando revancha de las jirafas.
Muy recomendable para leer en familia. Un humor muy inglés y algo irreverente.

[beckys_book_blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these books when I was little and I remembered them the other day! Has anyone else read them?

Such great stories about a little girl called Arabel and her pet raven called Mortimer. They get up to all sorts of hilarious adventures together.

There are lots of little illustrations throughout the book by Quentin Blake too.

I can't wait to read this to my daughter (who is getting quite a large pile of books to read too!) I hope she loves it as much as I did!

[Rukmini · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I have lost my beloved daughter and my greatly esteemed raven,” said Mrs. Jones with dignity, “and I should be obliged if you would leave me alone with my trouble.”

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many of these Mortimer stories have “thieves” as the baddies.

[Catherine Suttle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when me and my 9 year old daughter think we couldn’t like Joan Aiken anymore we discover another absolute gem! These stories really made us giggle, we’ve already started the next ones!