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Children's fantasy classics - Susan Cooper, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, Robert Westall, Ursula le Guin, and more...

189 replies

astronewt · 20/12/2022 11:11

Inspired by the "Dark is Rising" thread.

I adored all these books as a child. My favourite book was Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and I read it over and over. I still reread The Dark is Rising every midwinter.

Fyi for those who may not know; Alan Garner wrote an additional novel in the Alderley Edge sequence about an adult Colin called Boneland in 2012 and Ursula le Guin has added another two novels to the Earthsea series; there are now six.

I can't wait to start getting my 8yo DS into some of these.

OP posts:
BustopherPonsonbyJones · 20/12/2022 14:14

I think it’s the Snow Spider too. William Mayne wrote the book about the drummer boy, didn’t he? Was it called Earthfast? The drummer boy comes out of the hill 200 years later. I don’t remember much more than that.

If I had to pick, Diana Wynne Jones is my absolute favourite. Fire and Hemlock, Howl’s Moving Castle and The Lives of Christopher Chant would be my top three. Time of the Ghost was terrifying.

Original poster
astronewt · 20/12/2022 14:12

Did anyone else love Garner's The Owl Service? So beautifully haunting, and drawing on such a strong vein of Welsh mythology. And the class issues - wealthy Alison and Roger, and whipsmart, chippy working-class Gwyn and his resentment.

I don't remember reading any Joan Aiken. How could I not have read any Joan Aiken? I'm sure my school library was full of it.

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postcardpuffin · 20/12/2022 14:12

Oh I’ve found my people!

Successfully got DD into The Children of Green Knowe this week, and I’m debating about whether to start her on my much loved DVD of the BBC adaptation of The Box of Delights this evening…. She’s getting The Wolves of Willoughby Chase in her stocking this year; and Charlotte Sometimes and the new reprint of Rosemary Sutcliffe’s The Armourer’s House under the tree.

So pleased that she’s at the right age now for all of these! 🥰

BustopherPonsonbyJones · 20/12/2022 14:06

Three great books! The dates when Charlotte Sometimes and Tom’s Midnight Garden were written allowed Charlotte and Tom to meet people they knew from WW1 and Edwardian (Victorian?) times in their own era and I liked how the way of life felt so separate but could still link in that way. There was a level of darkness in each book which makes them so readable.

I would also recommend The Driftway by Penelope Lively and an American/Canadian time slip story called The Root Cellar by Janet Lunn. Another good one was Jessamy. I think it was written by Barbara Sleigh. I might also dig out The Once and Future King for a reread!

Can anyone recommend similar fantasy books which have been written recently?

VikingLady · 20/12/2022 13:47

Lanty · 20/12/2022 13:21

Ohhh. Yes I read the Weirdstone so many times that scenes and phrases from it still drift into my mind at random times - and I'm almost 40 now. I loved the Dark is Rising sequence too.

Anyone remember a book about a young Welsh boy who discovers he's a wizard? His sister was missing, parents grieving - he had magical items that were a chess piece, a piece of seaweed, a magical spider. I think a lot of the book was based on Welsh legends? I'd love to know the title.

It sounds like Jenny Nimmo's The Snow Spider. There's a whole series. I absolutely loved them. There's a lot of real word emotional issues for kids to learn from, too.

I'm rereading all the Tamora Pierce books with my daughter. Love them.

DistrictCommissioner · 20/12/2022 13:35

Dianna Wynn Jones too.

do you remember William Mayne? Unsettling, as I remember.

Coxspurplepippin · 20/12/2022 13:32

Joan Aiken. Dido Twite is a hero.

BookWorm45 · 20/12/2022 13:25

@Lanty is it the Snow Spider trilogy - Jenny Nimmo ?

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 20/12/2022 13:24

I love The Dark is Rising too, @astronewt - I might well read it again before Christmas.

I do think that the Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett are good - not classics yet, but hopefully they will be, in time.

Lanty · 20/12/2022 13:23

@BookWorm45 Thomas Kempe is another I'd like to re-read. It was pretty funny? I thought Catweasle was hilarious.

Lanty · 20/12/2022 13:21

Ohhh. Yes I read the Weirdstone so many times that scenes and phrases from it still drift into my mind at random times - and I'm almost 40 now. I loved the Dark is Rising sequence too.

Anyone remember a book about a young Welsh boy who discovers he's a wizard? His sister was missing, parents grieving - he had magical items that were a chess piece, a piece of seaweed, a magical spider. I think a lot of the book was based on Welsh legends? I'd love to know the title.

Original poster
astronewt · 20/12/2022 13:12

BlueChampagne · 20/12/2022 13:06

I know about (and love) Tehanu - is there another @astronewt ??

There are two!

"Tales from Earthsea" - which is a collection of short stories running from the deep past of Earthsea right up to the "present day" of Tehanu - and "The Other Wind" - which concludes the stories of Ged, Tenar and Tehanu.

I'm ashamed to admit I didn't really "get" Tehanu when I first read it because it was so different from the first three Ged-centric books, but then I came to love that ULG had shifted perspective to an "ordinary" middle aged woman and taken the time to write from a more feminist perspective.

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BookWorm45 · 20/12/2022 13:09

So pleased you've started this thread and looking forward to other suggestions / authors.
Can I add in - Tom's Midnight Garden (Philippa Pearce)
and
Charlotte Sometimes (Penelope Farmer)
and
Ghost of Thomas Kempe (Penelope Lively)

All the above have some fantasy but also a lot of "real world" stuff too.

BlueChampagne · 20/12/2022 13:06

I know about (and love) Tehanu - is there another @astronewt ??