The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson
October 23, 2012 at 1:47 pm Chris Leave a comment
Eva Ibbotson died in 2010 amd among her papers was this last manuscript. I have loved all of Eva’s novels as she has a sense of adventure and comedy in all her books.In this novel a young aristocratic girl. Agatha, is stolen from a Himalayan campsite by a yeti. She is taken away to become a mother to lots of baby yetis. She teaches them English and good manners and tells them lots of stories. Who could not love these babies?
‘They are so small, and could just as well be an old glove or a tea cosy…’
As you can see Ibbotson has a great sense of the ridiculous which children love. Everyone is very happy until tourists come very close to discovering the mystery of the yeti and where they live. Agatha decides it is time to move to a place where they will be safe. What better place than her ancestral home, Farley Towers in Hampshire. With the help of a trans continental truck driver and two children they make their escape. The journey is perilious and full of adventure, they even stop a bull fight in Spain. But no happy ending yet because when the get to Farley Towers it is occopied by the Hunters Club. They have lots of ideas re the yetis such as game hunting in the Antartic. Just to finish it all off nicely Prince Charles comes to the rescue.
They are many levels on which this story could be read when you know of Eva’s escape from Europe with her family but children will enjoy a good rollicking tale.
They are many levels on which this story could be read when you know of Eva’s escape from Europe with her family but children will enjoy a good rollicking tale.
Entry filed under: Chapter Books. Tags: books, eva ibbotson.
Chris
Jon Page
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed