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Paperback400 pages
Publisher
Pan MacmillanSuitable for Ages
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Publication date
3rd April 2009ISBN
9780330456357Children's Author 'Like-for-Like' recommendations
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Dragonfly Pool
Eva Ibbotson
This title is in stock
Lovereading4kids Price: £5.24
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Julia Eccleshare's comment:
A wonderful, magical adventure spins out of a school story with a difference. Tally doesn’t want to leave her father and her aunts and go away to boarding school. But Delderton Hall is a very special school with interesting staff and pupils and loads of scope for imagination and creativity. Tally organises a trip to the Kingdom of Bergania where she befriends the prince and soon finds herself swept up in a thrilling and dangerous adventure.
The Lovereading comment:
Be prepared to be swept away on a truly great war-time adventure by one of the greatest children’s authors of our time. Meet Tally, who is sent away because of the war to the depths of Devon to an anything but ordinary boarding school. In fact, it’s such an extraordinary place that anything can happen and it does. In fact way more than she bargained for – survival and friendship are tested to the absolute limit and beyond. This is a modern classic in the making with all the hallmarks of prize winner written all over it.
Who is Julia Eccleshare ?
Synopsis
Dragonfly Pool by Eva IbbotsonTally 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 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.
Reviews
‘This is a tale as delicate and buoyant as anything filmed by
Alexandra Korda, blending comedy, history and tragedy with an
irresistible wit and verve. Underlying Ibbotson’s liberal, liberating
plot line are profound questions about education, the price of being
different, and the different kinds of prison that all individuals have
taken care not to find themselves trapped in’. The Times
‘Tally’s
adventures may from time to time require us to suspend disbelief, but
we do so willingly and in appreciation of the sure-footed skill of an
author whose novels have the skill and stature of classics in the
making’. The Guardian
‘A new book by Eva always lifts the
spirits. She understands how children might be inspired and nourished,
and she delights in nature, friendship, honesty and liberty’. The
Sunday Times
‘A wonderfully rich adventure’. Good Book Guide
‘Unmissable’ Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times
‘This
was a great book that I just couldn’t put down, and it amazed me right
up until the end. I don’t know quite how Ibbotson did it, but this book
seemed to come alive inside my head, and enticed me to read on and on’.
Independent on Sunday
‘(Eva) has managed to combine at least
three traditions, braiding together with delicacy and skill a school
story, a war story and Ruritanian adventure into a funny, moving and
uplifting tale which is sparkingly written and full of excitement’.
Adele Geras for the Guardian
‘The ever reliable Eva Ibbotson has written another excellent novel for older children’ The Spectator
‘Ibbotson
is a sublime storyteller and this funny and exciting adventure
skilfully tackles issues if freedom and individuality.’ Daily Mail
‘An enchanting novel from the good witch of kidlit.’ The Times
‘A treat’. The Daily Express
About The Author
Born in Vienna, Eva came to England as a small girl. She spent much of her adult life in Newcastle upon Tyne. When her husband was alive he bred snails in the garage; they also kept fish and had a small and very hairy dog. Eva had four grown-up children and seven grandchildren. She wrote for both adults and children. Which Witch was runner-up for the Carnegie Medal and The Secret of Platform 13 was shortlisted for the Smarties Prize. Journey to the River Sea won the Smarties Book Prize Gold Award, was runner-up for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and the Guardian Fiction Award, and was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
Eva's books for older readers (12+) include: The Morning Gift, A Song for Summer, The Secret Countess, A Company of Swans and Magic Flutes. Her books for younger readers (9+) include: The Dragonfly Pool, Journey to the River Sea and The Star of Kazan.
And for even younger readers (7+): Which Witch, Dial a Ghost, Not just a Witch, Monster Mission, The Beasts of Clawstone Castle, The secret of Platform 13, The Great Ghost rescue and The Haunting of Hiram.
Eva's final novel that she completed prior to her death at the age of 85 in 2010 is called One Dog and his Boy. It will be published in 2011.
Eva Ibbotson on writing:
"I started to scribble stories when I was about seven years old and I just carried on so I became a writer gradually. I didn't try to get anything published until I was quite grown-up. I write at my mother's old desk, looking out on to a leafy street, and I rewrite what I have written again and again until I get the words the way I want them (most of my pages have been through eight drafts or so). It's my belief that one should be in the same place each day, so that if an idea is hovering it knows where to find you. Ideas can come from places one has seen or conversations one has overheard - or just from nowhere! Being an author can be lonely, difficult and frustrating, but there is nothing else I'd rather be."
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