Discover the enchanting world of Eva Ibbotson's books, packed with magic, mystery, fantasy, and friendship.
With characters to fall in love with, adventures into the unknown, and sweeping tales of romance, Eva Ibbotson's stories have something for everyone. A former scientist, turned teacher, turned novelist, Ibbotson's children's books perfectly capture the wonder of all things fantastical, and her whimsical characters and imagined worlds have gone on to inspire countless other children's authors. Here is our guide to her fantastic fiction.
Eva Ibbotson's books for children and younger readers
Eva Ibbotson’s fantasy stories are great for young fans of magic, witches and wizards. Here are just a few of her best-loved middle-grade books.
Or for those who loved Journey to the River Sea, discover Emma Carroll's Escape to the River Sea, inspired by Eva Ibbotson's classic novel.
Although best known for her books for children, Eva Ibbotson also wrote several historical romance novels. These novels are perfect for older teenagers and romantics alike.
Eva Ibbotson's books that adults will love
For those who loved reading Eva's books as children or as a gift for a life-long fan, these as clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers are a natural fit for any classics collection.
Who was Eva Ibbotson?
Eva Ibbotson’s life was as adventurous as those of the characters she created in her mystical middle-grade stories and sweeping young adult romances. Born to Jewish parents in Vienna in 1925, at nine years old Eva moved to London to join her mother, a successful novelist and playwright, who had fled Vienna in 1933 after her work was banned by the Nazi authorities. Other members of Eva’s family also escaped Vienna and settled in England, and their shared experiences later influenced Eva’s writing, with the themes of home, refugees and immigration running through her books. Eva attended the prestigious Dartington Hall School, before studying Physiology at Cambridge University. After realising a career in science wasn’t for her; she retrained as a teacher. Eva didn’t start writing until she was in her thirties and her first children’s book, The Great Ghost Rescue, was published in 1975 when she was fifty years old. Despite her late literary start, Eva went on to write more than twenty books for children and won the Smarties Prize for her novel Journey to the River Seain 2001. She died at her home in Newcastle in 2010, aged eighty-five.
What age are Eva Ibbotson's books for?
While best known for her middle-grade chapter books full of fantasy and magic, Eva Ibbotson's children's books can be read together with younger children and enjoyed by older readers alike. Ibbotson also published a number of romance books for young adults and older readers.