Product Description

Gathered in one deluxe yet affordable volume are three best-selling books from an acknowledged master of comic fantasy, Eva Ibbotson. Whether searching for a lost prince, having a contest for the wickedest witch, or caring for an oceanful of fantastic creatures, Eva Ibbotson's characters are sure to enchant. Now fans can immerse themselves in her world, a place of endless amusement and adventure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2263868 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-01
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 768 pages

Amazon.com Review
Magic and mermaids, fierce old aunts and tenderly wicked witches, krakens and spoiled brats and adorable baby mistmakers. Eva Ibbotson is at her finest when writing about mystical places and fantastic creatures. Her legions of fans will be thrilled to see not one, not two, but three fabulous titles from this master of droll fantasies collected in one thoroughly satisfying volume.

A powerful wizard seeks a wife from among the local witches in Which Witch?. Dismayed at the prospect of warts and whiskers, yet still grimly determined, he holds a contest to establish the very wickedest witch--with surprising results. In The Secret of Platform 13, a long-awaited baby prince is kidnapped from his secret island home. Nine long years later, the king and queen select several of the rather peculiar islanders to rescue the boy from London, where, unfortunately, he seems to have grown into quite an unpleasant child. And last but not least, The Island of the Aunts involves still more kidnapping. This time, three kindly but somewhat ferociously single-minded aunts decide they need a few children to help them care for the mythical animals that have found a safe haven on their island. Devotees of Roald Dahl and J.K. Rowling, take note! Eva Ibbotson is well worth more than a peek. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

Customer Reviews

Very creative!!!
This book was really good! I was waiting for the next Harry Potter book to come out when I saw this book. I was really glad I got it. It wasn't just filler. I really liked the way Eva Ibbotson made a whole different world, but it still felt like that world might actually be there. In Island of the Aunts, she shows how important it is to conserve nature and it's wonders. She was able to give that message without being depressing, like other books sometimes are.

Amazingly hilarious!
Once you pass by these kinds of books, you might think to yourself that you would never try to read them until you had absolutely nothing left to do. That was the same for me. I sat one day staring at my shelf of books, and decided that I would read it, but if I thought the first page would be pure torture, I would just drop it. Five minutes later, I sat with my eyes glued to the book, laughing at paragraphs with clusters of witty humor. It seemed like I was tumbling through a dimension where common sense hailed magic, and where good always taught a lesson to evil. Don't worry; you'll see Eva Ibbotson's stories unfold right before your own eyes once you experience this book.

Charming fantasy romps
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.