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

[astronewt]

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.

@TheRedLip You, my dear, are a ruddy genius!

Have just finished reading When the Night Crow Flies, and yes! You nailed it. It is definitely the book I read, probably 45 years ago and have been searching for for a lot of years now. I've posted on lots of book finding websites and threads, and had begun to doubt whether I had actually read a book like this or if it had been a dream I'd had.

I'm massively grateful to you and I enjoyed the book tremendously. Thank you very much indeed! 💐

Also @hagsrus0 yes, I know Marigold in Godmothers House.

My own godmother, who was born in 1932 told me about it and mourned the fact that she no longer had a copy of it. I managed to track her down an original hardback copy on Abebooks and bought her it. She left it to me when she died and I love it. It's by the author of Milly Molly Mandy.

"It's by the author of Milly Molly Mandy." Also wrote a little series: The Bunchy Books, a little girl who gets absorbed in her fantasies. IIRC she makes an appearance in the MMM story about buying material for a new frock. (Sudden vivid memory of those shelves in the children's library when I was about six!) And one other, The Dawn Shops, though I don't remember more than the title.

Fantastic news, this has really made my day. I've loved and worked with books my whole life, and there's nothing better than reuniting someone with a well loved book.

@TheRedLip I know! There is a real joy in recognising like minded people who have read the same things as you - or like the same things. Thanks so much for re-uniting me with an old favourite.

@hagsrus0 I remember Bunchy from MMM and I've dithered over whether to order this and/or the Dawn Shops but they are quite expensive on Abebooks. Have you read either?

Fab thread.
Did anyone else ever read The Winter of Enchantment by Victoria Walker?

Bunchy - in the far distant past. Dawn Shops - I must have done but don't have any memory of content. It's MMM that sticks, love the down-to-earth everyday-ness!

So many DWJ fans! I wish I could meet you all and talk Chrestomanci all night. But if you twisted my arm I might admit to an even greater love of Deep Secret. Or perhaps the Year of the Griffin. Of course Fire and Hemlock is truly special. Or maybe Power of Three...But back to Chrestomanci...I was given a Chrestomanci dressing gown for Christmas! Gold velvet with a pattern and a red silk lining. Imagine the thrill.

Beetlebrain the dressing gown sounds AMAZING!

I would love to join a DWJ chat and deeply envy your dressing gown @beetlebrain. I also love Deep Secret - the way it all builds up to a big crescendo of chaos in true DWJ style is somehow perfectly capped by Rupert's plaintive realisation, "You have your dinner in the middle of the day!" And yes the Derkholm/Year of the Griffin pairing (and Tough Guide in a different way) is such a satisfying send up of so many fantasy cliches.

The thing about DWJ is that she had so many genuinely original ideas. Think of Dogsbody, for example. Or the Moving Castle. Or the bizarre and extraordinary Archer’s Goon. So many fantasy writers work over old ideas, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But she had such an exceptional imagination.

I signed up to an event as part of the Bristol Ideas Festival a couple of years ago, where there was a discussion about Diana Wynne Jones "What does DWJ mean to readers today?" - it was really good, and I've just looked and the recording is available on Youtube. It's definitely worth a listen.

I am also jealous of your Chrestomanci dressing gown! Deep Secret was fantastic and I wanted to be at that convention so much. Janine’s pottery/description of the jumpers always made me laugh too. DWJ was a true original and each book was always a surprise. Thanks to everyone for all the book recommendations as I am making my way through them.

if anyone ever hears of another DWJ discussion taking place, please post details!

Isobelle carmody was my favourite! She wrote a fantasy series I loved, the first book is called Obernewtyn.