Search results for: eva ibbotson

A Company Of Swans by Eva Ibbotson

A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think sometimes Eva Ibbotson can be so perfect that you can’t quite figure out how she can be better, and then she writes: “At which point there entered a deus ex machina.It entered in an unexpected form: that of a lean,Continue reading “A Company Of Swans by Eva Ibbotson”

A Song For Summer by Eva Ibbotson

A Song for Summer by Eva Ibbotson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Sometimes it’s difficult to know where to begin with Eva Ibbotson and then, I realise, it’s here. A sunlit, simple day where breakfast was buttery toast and the world’s open to explore. She’s simple that way, instinctive; food features heavily, sunlight idyllicContinue reading “A Song For Summer by Eva Ibbotson”

The Dragonfly Pool : Eva Ibbotson

The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson My rating: 5 of 5 stars There’s nothing quite out there that reaches Eva Ibbotson at her very best. She writes like buttery crumpets on a midwinter’s day; hot, fat moments that can be tasted on your tongue, warmth in every word and that magical storytelling quality that makesContinue reading “The Dragonfly Pool : Eva Ibbotson”

The Morning Gift : Eva Ibbotson

The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I was thinking about The Morning Gift this morning, this strange, heightened, musical book full of grace and elegance and wry sentences that curl in on themselves with sudden witticisms and side-remarks, and I was reminded about how good Eva Ibbotson can be.Continue reading “The Morning Gift : Eva Ibbotson”

The Secret of Platform 13 : Eva Ibbotson

The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Oh, oh, oh, my love for Eva Ibbotson utterly continues. The Secret of Platform 13 is furiously magical and madly inventive. It’s the story of a hidden island, wrapped away from the ‘everyday’ by magic and mists (mists made, fyi, byContinue reading “The Secret of Platform 13 : Eva Ibbotson”

A Stranger At Green Knowe by L. M. Boston

A Stranger at Green Knowe by L.M. Boston My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’ve always had a messy relationship with the Green Knowe stories. They’ve appealed to me less than I suspect their components ought. In other words a mysterious story set in a strange house in the English countryside should have been myContinue reading “A Stranger At Green Knowe by L. M. Boston”

The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage : Philip Pullman

La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman My rating: 2 of 5 stars It’s difficult to review this book so, forgive me if I take a while to get to the point. If I’m honest, I’m not wholly sure as to why I didn’t like this and I’m not sure that that dislike comes from me,Continue reading “The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage : Philip Pullman”

Dragon’s Green : Scarlett Thomas

Dragon’s Green by Scarlett Thomas My rating: 4 of 5 stars Dragon’s Green is a really intriguing book and one that I sort of thought I wouldn’t like and then really rather did. It reaches in a thousand different directions, some more successfully than others, and when it hits, it’s utterly wonderful. So, a plotContinue reading “Dragon’s Green : Scarlett Thomas”

Roofs in children’s literature

Let’s talk about roofs. Niche, I know, but something that’s sort of starting to needle at my imagination and what with a visit to Oxford yesterday, and my current reading of (the incredibly lovely) Rooftoppers, I thought it was an appropriate time to explore this. See, the thing about roofs is that they’re inacessible, usually.Continue reading “Roofs in children’s literature”

The rights of the reader #childrensbookweek

This week it’s been Children’s Book Week (Twitter hashtag) and it would be remiss if we didn’t mention it at DYESTTAFTSA Towers. Because, you know, books! Books are good! And if you’ve not got that yet, then frankly I need to sit you down and have a good talk with you 😉 So I think IContinue reading “The rights of the reader #childrensbookweek”

Favourites in children’s literature #kidbkgrp

12th September saw a super speedy #kidbkgrp chat happen. It was precipitated by my finishing A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson and remembering just how much I loved her. You know that feeling, right? The one where you come back to your favourite author – or book – and feel like you’ve finally comeContinue reading “Favourites in children’s literature #kidbkgrp”

A most unusual place : Dartington Hall and its role in children’s literature

University wasn’t meant to be like this. I’d come to this place, possibly the furthest away place I could have chosen, and here I was in a room – a studio! – with thirty other individuals and I was creating a collaborative theatre piece.  Devising. Group. Theatre. I was a most shell-shocked individual. My firstContinue reading “A most unusual place : Dartington Hall and its role in children’s literature”

A list : nerdy, technical and just plain bizarre books

Here’s a list of my current reads. Some are very specifically related to my dissertation, some are theoretically based and some are just a little bit odd 😉 Enjoy! Maria Nikolajeva – The Rhetorics of Character in Children’s Literature. Amazing. Sorry if you follow me on Twitter – my #fridayreads post has just been mainlyContinue reading “A list : nerdy, technical and just plain bizarre books”

About Me

Hello! Depending on what you’ve read, you’ll know me as either Louise Johnson or Daisy May Johnson, but either way it’s all me 😊

Finishing my Goodreads reading challenge

I have been using Goodreads for a while. It began when I first started blogging, primarily because I didn’t know how to format things then (what on earth was this thing called HTML???) and I quite liked how Goodreads did the work for me. I’ve stuck with it ever since because I’ve become increasingly intriguedContinue reading “Finishing my Goodreads reading challenge”