Showing results by author "Eva Ibbotson" in All Categories

Alex McBuff doesn't want to sell the family castle. An orphan, its ghosts have been like a family to him. But it is falling to pieces through lack of money. A Texan billionaire offers Alex $500,000, but on condition that it is ghost free.

Weekly ballet classes are Harriet Morton's only escape from her intolerably dull life. So when she is chosen to join a corps de ballet which is setting off on a tour of the Amazon, she leaps at the chance to run away for good. Performing in the grand opera houses is everything Harriet dreamed of, and falling in love with an aristocratic exile makes her new life complete. Swept away by it all, she is unaware that her father and intended fiance have begun to track her down.

"Get me some ghosts," said Fulton Snoddle-Brittle. "Frightful and dangerous ghosts!" Fulton has gone to the Dial-a-Ghost agency with an evil plan. He wants to hire some truly terrifying ghosts to scare his nephew Oliver to death.

But Oliver likes ghosts. And the peculiar ones he meets at Helton Hall decide at once to help him outwit the wicked Snodde-Brittles.

Tally Hamilton is furious to hear she is being sent from London to a horrid, stuffy boarding school in the countryside. And all because of the stupid war. But Delderton Hall is a far more interesting place than Tally ever imagined, and an exciting school trip to the beautiful and luscious kingdom of Bergania whisks Tally into an unexpected adventure . . . Will she be able to save her new friend, Prince Karil, from terrible danger before it's too late?

Under Platform 13 at Kings Cross Station there is a secret door that leads to a magical island. It appears only once every nine years. And when it opens, four mysterious figures step into the streets of London. A wizard, an ogre, a fey, and a young hag have come to find the prince of their kingdom, stolen as a baby nine years before.

Three children have been kidnapped by some mysterious, mad aunts and panic is spreading. But Myrtle, Coral and Etta are far from killers - they need the children to help them in a very caring mission. The secret island where they live is a sanctuary for strange and wonderful creatures - mermaids, selkies, the amazing boobrie bird, and even the great Kraken himself.

In early 20th-century Vienna, Annika is raised by Ellie and Sigrid, a cook and housemaid for a household of three professors. Abandoned when she was a baby, Annika dreams of the day her mother will come back to claim her. Then one day, it happens. A glamorous woman arrives and sweeps Annika away to a crumbling castle in Germany. But there is much more to this new woman than meets the eye - and none of it is good.

Ruth lives in the beautiful city of Vienna and is wildly in love with Heini Radik, a brilliant young pianist. But her world is about to change forever. When Hitler's forces invade, Ruth's family flees to London, but she is unable to get a passport. Quin, a young professor and friend of the family, visits Ruth and in an effort to bring her back to London, he offers a marriage of convenience. As Ruth throws herself into her London life, Quin begins to fall desperately in love with her.

When 18-year-old Ellen accepts the post of housekeeper at Hallendorf School of Music, Drama and Dance she wasn't expecting it to be quite so unusual. For deep in the beautiful Austrian countryside, she finds an eccentrically magical world occupied by wild children and even wilder teachers, experimental dancers, and a tortoise on wheels.

When Madlyn and Rollo are sent to stay at ancient Clawstone Castle, they soon fall in love with the house and its eccentric, penniless inhabitants. There's grumpy, limping Uncle George, mousey Miss Emily, and reclusive Cousin Howard who hardly ever leaves his library. But, the children are especially enchanted by the cattle of Clawstone Park - rare and beautiful beasts, as white as snow and as wild as wolves. No one knows where they came from.

As a bloodcurlingly fearsome ghost, Humphrey the Horrible is a failure. He's not horrible at all. Instead of being ghastly and skeletal, he's pink and fluffy, like a summer cloud. Poor Humphrey can't scare anyone. But when the ghosts are in danger, it's clever Humphrey who comes up with a rescue plan.

Fredegonda, Goneril, and Drusilla are Great Hagges, much more important and much rarer than regular old hags. They think that ghosts these days are decidedly lacking—people haven't been scared of ghosts for years. So one day they decide that something needs to change—it's time for these ghosts to learn a thing or two about being scary. And what better way to teach them than to set up their very own school for ghosts?

Spring, 1922. Tessa is a beautiful, tiny, dark-eyed princess - who's given up her duties to follow her heart, working for nothing backstage at the Viennese opera. No one there knows who she really is, or that a fairytale castle is missing its princess, and Tessa is determined to keep it that way.

Heckie is not just a witch. She's a good witch who wants to make the world a better place. So, with her Toe of Transformation and her Knuckle of Power she turns unpleasant people into animals. But to her surprise, Basil's parents want their son back.

When a Hag, an orphan boy, and a troll called Ulf get sent to rescue a princess from an ogre, they expect it to be a fairly standard magical mission. But the ogre is depressed, the princess doesn’t want to be rescued – and the ogre’s dead wife is turning in her grave. The Norns who rule their fates decide to take things in hand – will the Ogre meet a bloody end, or will he get a happy ending?

Am längst geschlossenen Bahnsteig 13 von King's Cross herrscht alle neun Jahre Hochbetrieb...

London, 1910: Das Waisenmädchen Maia wird zu ihren letzten lebenden Verwandten nach Brasilien geschickt...

Rufus Beck im Kampf gegen die Schlossgespenster. Gespenster können den zwölfjährigen Alex nicht schrecken. Er lebt auf einem schottischen Schloss und da gehören Geister einfach dazu. Aber als das Schloss verkauft wird, besteht der neue Besitzer darauf, dass alle Gespenster verschwinden. Ein turbulentes Abenteuer beginnt... Rufus Beck macht aus diesem skurrilen Gespensterspektakel ein Hörvergnügen der ganz besonderen Art. Herb tönt der Wikinger Krok, aufgeregt quietscht Flossie und schrill jault der Höllenhund Cyril durch die alten Gemäuer.

Der kleine Henry wünscht sich nichts mehr als einen Hund. Als er an seinem 10. Geburtstag wieder keinen bekommt, ist er todunglücklich...

Bei den Hexen von Todcaster herrscht große Aufregung, denn der mächtige Zauberer Arriman ist auf der Suche nach einer Ehefrau...