The Beasts of Clawstone Castle - Softcover

Alex T. Smith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1447265637 ISBN 13: 9781447265634

Publisher: Pan MacMillan, 2014

Synopsis

A truly captivating spooky adventure from the outstanding Eva Ibbotson, bestselling author of Journey to the River Sea.

About this title

About the Author

EVA IBBOTSONwas born in Vienna, but when the Nazis came to power her family fled to England and she was sent to boarding school. She became a writer while bringing up her four children, and her bestselling novels have been published around the world. Her books have also won and been shortlisted for many prizes. Eva died peacefully in October 2010 at the age of eighty-five.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Victims of busy parents, Madlyn, 11, and Rollo, 9, go to stay with an eccentric cast of relatives at Clawstone Castle. Along with Great-Aunt Emily, her brother Great-Uncle George, and no-longer-living Cousin Howard, the real attraction is the legendary and noble Wild White Cattle herd. The children join the family's endeavors to support the animals by turning the place into a museum, but when the bovines are cow-napped, each family member plays a part in their return, along with Ibbotson's usual cadre of banshees and ghosts, as well as a pair of Scottish feet. Everything readers like about this author is present in good amounts. From the first chapter, they will make an emotional connection with Madlyn and Rollo and with the impoverished, yet creative castle denizens. While a ghost with a rat munching on its heart may not leave a pleasant feeling in one's stomach, it cannot be denied that it is memorable, even more so when Ibbotson convinces readers to pity the rat. She deftly brings in such contemporary issues as land development, animal rights, and the environment without creating an obvious message. The story's quest pattern (find the cows!) makes the plot easy to follow and well structured, accompanied by humorous and disgusting details aplenty. Hawkes's whimsical, full-page line drawings are scattered throughout. More of a page-turner than some of Ibbotson's recent stories, this novel will find a following among readers of Suzanne Collins's Gregor the Overlander (Scholastic, 2003) or Angie Sage's Septimus Heap series (HarperCollins).–Caitlin Augusta, The Darien Library, CT
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About this edition

• Publisher: Pan MacMillan
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1447265637
• ISBN 13: 9781447265634
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Alex T. Smith