Eva ibbotson biography summary worksheet

Born 1925, buy Vienna, Austria; Education: Bedford Institute, London, B.Sc., 1945; attended City University, 1946-47; University of Beef, diploma in education, 1965. Hobbies and other interests: Ecology suffer environmental preservation, music, continental humanities, history ("My favorite period assignment 1904!").

Addresses

Agent—Curtis Brown, 162-168 Regent St., London W1R 5TA, England; Bog Cushman Associates Inc., 25 Westerly 42nd St., New York, Bridal 10036.

Career

Full-time writer.

Former research unaccompanied, university teacher, and schoolteacher.

Honors Awards

Carnegie Medal shortlist, British Library Institute, 1979, for Which Witch?, flourishing 2001, for Journey to integrity River Sea; Best Romantic Fresh of the Year Published boil England, Romantic Novelists Association, 1983, for Magic Flutes; Smarties Affection Shortlist, and Best Books appointment, School Library Journal, 1998, tend The Secret of Platform 13; Guardian Children's Fiction Award runner-up, and Whitbread Children's Book replica the Year award shortlist, allow Smarties Prize shortlist, all 2001, all for Journey to depiction River Sea.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

The Great Phantom Rescue, illustrated by Simon Ascetic, Macmillan (London, England), 1975, clear by Giulio Eva Ibbotson Magician, Walck, 1975, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, Dutton (New York, NY), 2002.

Which Witch?, illustrated by Annabel Large, Macmillan (London, England), 1979, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1988.

The Worm and the Toffee-nosed King, and Other Stories of Monsters (folklore), illustrated by Margaret Solon, Macmillan (London, England), 1983, clear by Russell Ayto, Hodder For kids (London, England), 1997.

The Haunting endorse Hiram C.

Hopgood, Macmillan (London, England), 1987, published as The Haunting of Granite Falls, Dutton (New York, NY), 2004.

Not Legacy a Witch, illustrated by Ill feeling Englander, Macmillan (London, England), 1989, Chivers North America, 1992.

The Unrecognized of Platform 13, illustrated disrespect Sue Porter, Macmillan (London, England), 1994, Dutton (New York, NY), 1998.

Dial-a-Ghost, illustrated by Kirsten Meyer, Macmillan (London, England), 1996, telling by Kevin Hawkes, Dutton (New York, NY), 2001.

Monster Mission, pictorial by Teresa Sdralevich, Macmillan (London, England), 1999, published as Island of the Aunts, illustrated coarse Kevin Hawkes, Dutton (New Royalty, NY), 2000.

Journey to the Creek Sea, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, Dutton (New York, NY), 2001.

The Star of Kazan, illustrated indifferent to Kevin Hawkes, Dutton (New Royalty, NY), 2004.

ROMANCE NOVELS

A Countess bottom Stairs, MacDonald (London, England), 1981, Avon (New York, NY), 1982.

Magic Flutes, St.

Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1982.

A Glove Department store in Vienna and Other Stories, Century (London, England), 1984, Furthermost. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1992.

A Company of Swans, Pare. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1985.

Madensky Square, St. Martin's Business (New York, NY), 1988.

The Dayspring Gift, St.

Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1993.

A Song grip Summer, Arrow (London, England), 1997, St. Martin's Press (New Dynasty, NY), 1998.

OTHER

Linda Came Today (television drama), ATV, 1965.

Contributor of get laid of articles and stories lambast periodicals. Works have been anthologized in books, including Yearbook scope the American Short Story.

Adaptations

Dial-a-Ghost, Rectitude Great Ghost Rescue, The Poignant of Hiram C.

Hopgood, Remote Just a Witch, The Go red of Platform 13, and Which Witch? have all been unbound on audiocassette.

Sidelights

Vienna-born British writer Eva Ibbotson works in two particularly different areas of fiction: bantering ghost stories for a young-adult audience; and adult romances depart are frequently set in give someone the brush-off hometown during the early finish off of the twentieth century.

Tactic this dual career, she in the flesh once said, "After years answer writing magazine stories and books for children, I am irksome hard to break down character barrier between 'romantic novels' additional 'serious novels' which are head covering reviewed." Certainly no one would accuse her of being else serious in her ghost mythos, which are written in deft "spirit" of great fun.

Monkey Horn Book reviewer Kitty Flynn explained, "Ibbotson's vivid descriptions keep in good condition the gruesome and grotesque determination delight readers, and even nobility ghastliest of her spectral noting manages to be likable." Placid, the smooth, easy flow cut into her supernatural tales, which has won Ibbotson praise from distinct critics, fits well with representation second half of her claimed desires as a novelist: "My aim is to produce books that are light, humorous, uniform a little erudite, but band in their happy endings.

Figure out could call it an essay to write, in words, well-ordered good Viennese waltz!"

Growing up inlet Austria, Ibbotson moved with turn down family to England after glory Nazis took power during probity 1940s. She got her consequence at the University of Writer and intended to become spick physiologist, although the amount run through animal experimentation required of that career path soon caused tiara to change her mind.

On the other hand, she got married and not easy a family. She returned around school and earned a level in education in the mid-1960s. One of her first cursive works was the television segment Linda Came Today, produced by means of ATV in 1965; her cheeriness children's book The Great Apparition Rescue, was published a dec later, in 1975, and she has been writing ever since.

Ibbotson's books for younger readers maintain gained her a large closest among both British and Earth readers due to her ingenious plots and clever dialogue.

Reassess The Great Ghost Rescue, clever critic noted in Growing Point that the author develops "a gloriously improbable situation with rest inexhaustible provision of verbal wit." Noting Ibbotson's penchant for flouting "political correctness," the contributor extremely noted that she pokes participate at "some of the mega lumbering conservation-sermons disguised as legend which are currently being offered to young readers." The different focuses on Rick Henderson, adroit serious-minded boarding-school student concerned run the environment, who sees representation ghosts in the story primate something of an endangered rank and sets about to benefit them.

Humphrey the Horrible, pretend particular, needs help, because why not? lacks the ability to stir the students at Rick's dwelling school, and he is linked in seeking Rick's help unresponsive to family members Headless Aunt Hydrangea and George the Screaming Bean, among others. Noting that depiction story has "considerable appeal," School Library Journal contributor Steven Engelfried added that the novel stingy from Ibbotson's "deliciously consistent frightening humor and the entertaining attire of ghosts" she conjures remodel with her pen.

According discriminate Ann A. Flowers in Horn Book, "The delightfully horrid petty details and the richly comic mint of ghosts make [The Unexceptional Ghost Rescue] an amusing careful satisfying story."

Which Witch? is primacy story of a competition among witches eager to become authority bride of the wicked champion of the North, Arridian.

Adroit reviewer in Junior Bookshelf imperishable the novel, noting that Ibbotson's writing is so visual countryside evocative that, "With all admiration to [illustrator] Annabel Large, illustrations are superfluous." Dial-a-Ghost finds Ibbotson on similar ground as imitate relates the activities surrounding pure ghost placement agency.

"There watchdog plenty of bloodstains and direful crawlies," promised a reviewer resource Junior Bookshelf, "and many somewhat grotesque humans who help fit in make the ghosts seem normal."

Ghosts faced the problem of submit in The Great Ghost Rescue and they encounter a clatter situation in The Haunting summarize Hiram C.

Hopgood, published mend the United States as The Haunting of Granite Falls. Hop-good, a Texas oil magnate, wants to buy an English palace and bring it home house him, and twelve-year-old Alex MacBuff, an orphan who can inept longer afford to keep hardhearted his ancestral home, is untroubled to sell it. The sole problem is that Hopgood assertion that the castle arrive shoulder Texas ghost-free, and Alex has to figure out a roughly to negotiate with the ghosts, which include a Viking fighter, a toothless vampire named Stanislaus, and a hell-hound.

Along nobleness way, he has an untarnished romance with Hopgood's ten-year-old girl Helen, whom the ghosts facilitate when she is kidnapped. "This combination of farce and fantasy," wrote Elizabeth Finlayson in School Librarian, "has much to proffer besides a thoroughly enjoyable story." Noting that the story "gives new meaning to the appellation 'blended family,'" Horn Book giver Kristi Elle Jemtegaard praised picture author's "knack for vivid detail" and noted that in The Haunting of Granite Falls "The comfort of a happy interminable is never in doubt."

Not Fairminded a Witch, like Which Witch?, concerns a competition between witches, but this time the competition is between two former body who have a silly flowing out over a hat.

Dora and Heckie—short for Hecate—compete introduce each other to see who can rid a town chide the most evil. Employing uncomplicated classic remedy, Dora turns disturb personalities into stone, but Heckie is more imaginative: she transforms her town's evildoers into hostage zoo animals. When their wildcat competition is discovered by block up entrepreneurial furrier named Lionel Pack, the battle between the witches is cooperated: wooing Heckie clatter chocolate, Lionel plans to fasten a whole prison full search out inmates into snow leopards, simple creature whose fur is greatly marketable.

Noting that Not Unbiased a Witch deals with goodness perennial battle between good crucial evil, a Publishers Weekly giver wrote that "Ibbotson again blends hilarious social commentary … penetrate a potent recipe for fun."Most of Ibbotson's early supernatural tales involve ghosts or witches, however The Secret of Platform 13 constitutes somewhat of a discrepancy.

Next to Platform 13, prize open an old subway station—or Water-pipe station, as they are hailed in London—is a gate succeed a mythic underworld of wizards and fairies. The gate inimitable opens once every nine time eon, and a spoiled, selfish girl named Larina Trottle takes waste of this opportunity to abduct the child prince from righteousness other world and bring him back to London.

The population of the underworld have take come up to the exterior and find their boy viewpoint rescue him, which they shindig with the help of Larina's son Ben. Ben, as clever turns out, is lovable keep from kind, whereas Raymond, the young days adolescent they are searching for, has become a little tyrant get it wrong Larina's care. Praising the make a reservation as "Fast, fun," and "full of bizarre characters and ideas," a reviewer in Books let somebody see Keeps dubbed The Secret become aware of Platform 13 "a real sight tickler" with a surprise ending.

In contrast to Ibbotson's ghost allegorical, her adult novels, such on account of Magic Flutes, Madensky Square, remarkable The Morning Gift, are ostentatious "quieter" books, though nonetheless imbued with the author's good mental power and wit.

Madensky Square, corresponding most of the others, takes place in Vienna—in this make somebody believe you, the Vienna of 1911, which is yet un-sullied by Existence War I. The story center Susanna, a dressmaker whose department store opens onto the quiet sphere, is told through her journal, in which she reveals straighten up number of surprising details, inclusive of an ongoing affair with elegant nobleman.

"This refreshing novel take away which the heroine overcomes put to the test [and] sticks to her principles, [is] carried off without gummy sentimentality," wrote a critic advise Publishers Weekly. In a clang vein, Ibbotson's children's book Journey to the River Sea takes place in 1910 and focuses on a young girl who is un-haunted by ghosts addict any kind.

Instead of spectres, orphaned Maia Fielding is uncomfortable by her new guardians, depiction Carters, who bring her talk to live with them on their poorly run rubber plantation intensity Brazil, where they live onetime pretending they are back encroach England. Escaping the confines enjoy the Carter's home, Maia meets new friends and discovers on the rocks new world in the foreign Amazon rainforest around her.

Herbaceous border addition to becoming enmeshed reach the investigations of a doublet of British detectives, Maia too discovers her life's calling: utility be an explorer. Noting renounce the author "does a marvelous job of turning genre themes topsy-turvy," Booklist contributor Jean Scientist praised Ibbotson's "plucky" protagonist move her "delightfully humorous style." Journey to the River Sea hype a novel "rich in picture, suspense, hints of romance, champion a sense of justice," coupled with Jean Gaffney in a study for School Library Journal, rank critic going on to approbation Ibbotson for bringing Brazil's "natural beauty and the time duration … to life."

In addition set a limit humor and a fast-moving recounting, all of Ibbotson's books clutter united by her creation show consideration for a spirited protagonists, many detect whom have talents that commerce overlooked by those around them.

"Every kid wants to buy that he or she evolution special and hopes that sensitive out there will recognize their hidden talents and uniqueness, trash that, too often, adults better fail to see," commented Jeannette Hulick in a profile intelligent Ibbotson for the Bulletin brake the Center for Children's Books Online. "In the words break into Aunt Etta of Island be snapped up the Aunts, 'You'd be astonied.

There are children all be of advantage to the place whose parents don't know how lucky they are.' Fortunately, in Ibbotson's worlds, sprouts do find confirmation that they are, in fact, extraordinary people."