Arabel's Raven (Arabel and Mortimer)

I checked this book out from the library for my daughter. She loved it so much she read it aloud to me after she finished it. It was hilarious. She continued to talk about the book months after we took it back to the library. So, I came to Amazon and bought her a copy for Christmas. She couldn't have been happier.The story of Arabel and Mortimer (her raven) takes you on a wild ride, out of the house and through the town. Just don't leave out anything you don't want Mortimer to eat! Oooops, what happened to the stairs? ;-)We sought out other Joan Aiken books after our great experience with this one. Not a single one has disappointed. Joan Aiken is permanently on our list of favorite authors.

The cover was different from the one pictured, which was disappointing. As for the story, the premise is cute, but the writing is hard to read. I’m not sure if it is too dated or the cultural difference cause the humor to be lost in translation. We will keep the book and try it again in a year or so.

My kids are 8 &9, and they love this book. It’s a cute story about a girl, her raven, and all the mischief he gets into. There are some very classically British words and expressions, but the kids love it and get the idea anyway.

My third grader loves this series. At this age, I would also recommend A Necklace of Rainbows, Shadows and Moonshine, A Small Pinch of Weather and the Armitage children stories. The Dido Twite series is better for older children. Joan Aiken is a terrific writer and gifted storyteller so it's fun for the adult to read too - unlike so many of the agonising children's books out there.

The entire Arabella and the Raven series is just great. My son loved them when he was 8 or 9 and now my grandson will be hearing them too. Creative, original.. humorous (lots of British terms and I love that). You'll have to explain some of the words to USA kids but the stories really are a delight. I'm in love with Mortimer the Raven.

Fantastical story of a pet raven and his hijinks. Read aloud to my 6 & 9 year old; we all greatly enjoyed the stories. They immediately asked for more books when we finished. Compelling, funny, and entertaining for multiple ages.

I loved reading the Mortimer books when I was little and I love reading them to our little boy now. The stories are great, and fun to read for children and adults too. The illustrations set the scene beautifully.

This is a delightful book, for adults and children.

"Arabel's Raven" is the first in a series about Arabel, who's around four and lives in 1970s London, and Mortimer, a big black sulky raven that eats stairs, gives dark looks, and says "Nevermore" into the telephone.In this story, Arabel's father nearly runs Mortimer down on the road, takes him home to recover, and he is then adopted by Arabel as a pet. While Mortimer eats all the food in the fridge and makes bite-marks in all the records at the record shop, the police are trying to catch two local bank robbers. The robbers kidnap Mortimer on one of their heists, and it all becomes a mad adventure to find him and solve the mystery...... someone eating the escalators at the local train station is a clue to his whereabouts, though.I read a number of these stories when I was a child, and I have just read this first book out loud to my 6-year-old daughter at bedtime, in instalments. She loves the Mortimer character. For children reading it themselves, it would be 7+ years.

I have extremely fond memories of listening to Bernard Cribbins reading Arabel's Raven on Jackanory when I was a child. I used to love these books and it's fantastic to find them back in print. This is a book with three of the stories in it, Arabel's Raven, The Bread Bin, and The Escaped Black Mamba and Other things.I have just finished reading these to my own children and they absolutely love them. We were all laughing so much at the story of the Escaped Black Mamba that we could hardly finish it. Mortimer is so naughty that he delights the heart of my rather evil four year old, and Mrs Jones' ridiculous language makes my nine year old fall on the floor with laughing. I hope they reprint all the stories very soon.

used to read these books as a child from the library its good to read them again

I remember reading this as a child, and hearing it read on Jackanory,I have had so much fun, re reading it, now in my late 40s,brilliant funny writing, and fantastic illustrations,If you want a fun book, for children, you can't go wrong, with these books,

What a lovely book! I remember reading these as a child and I was thrilled when I found I could purchase these books on Amazon. I am very much enjoying reading them again.Incredibly enjoyable I believe for all ages! These are very funny books with characters you can grow to love!