Monthly Archives: February 2019

The Ogre Downstairs

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The Ogre Downstairs by Diana Wynne Jones

Book of the Week: 24 February 2019

Cover illustration by David Wyatt. If you read the book you will understand the significance of the objects in the picture.

The story of two families trying to make themselves one, with unwilling participants and the added complication of two unusual chemistry sets.

Sally has remarried and set up home with Jack, or the Ogre as her children Johnny, Caspar and Ginny like to call him. They find the Ogre to be ill-tempered, hyper-critical and the possessor of two dislikable sons: Douglas and Malcolm. When the Ogre buys a chemistry set each for Johnny and Malcolm it leads to even more chaos as they discover the magical properties of some of the chemicals. The children try to keep the magic a secret from one another and their parents, but when objects come to life and they find out they can fly, it gets more difficult to keep a lid on the strange happenings and on their arguments.

The magic in the story is not only wonderfully inventive, but always has the bonus of being made more interesting by practical considerations. Although events are seen from the young people’s point of view, the reader also understands the adult characters and their predicament as the story unfolds.

The book was was first published in 1973 and does contain some corporal punishment of the boys that may jar with a modern readers. That aside, it is still a book very much worth reading.

The Colour of the Sun

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The Colour of the Sun by David Almond
Book of the Week: 10 February 2019

Cover illustration by David Litchfield

Davie sets out to wander around his unnamed town in the north of England one bright, sunlit morning. He takes a sketchbook and some bits and pieces in an old rucksack and goes ‘for a wander’ as he calls it. Within a short time, he meets a friend who tells him there has been a murder – a young man called Jimmy Killen is lying dead. Davie thinks the most obvious suspect will be Zorro Craig, because all the Killens hate the Craigs and vice versa. For the rest of the day, Davie journeys through town and the hills beyond to look for Zorro and find out the truth. On the way he meets many different characters and observes the beauties of the natural world.

This is a rich piece of storytelling which captures the feeling of being a part of the natural world. There are vivid descriptions of small details, such as bees taking nectar from gorse flowers and the brilliance of wine gums. It is a book that revels in language and the sheer joy of being alive.

The Twisted Tree

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The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge

Book of the Week: 3 February 2019

Cover illustration by Rohan Eason

Martha is on her way to visit her grandmother (her Mormor) on a remote Norwegian island where she used to spend her summers. She is troubled by her relationship with her mother, the aftermath of an accident that left her blinded in one eye and the strange power she has to sense people’s emotions and aspects of their past through contact with their clothing. She is given a lift to Mormor’s cabin by a neighbour, only to find that the sole inhabitant is a squatter called Stig. He tells her that her grandmother died and the funeral was a couple of weeks ago. Martha realises that no-one knows where she is, the mobile phone signal is out, the nearest neighbours are miles away and Stig could be a mad, axe-murderer. Added to this, there appears to be something on the loose in the nearby woods and odd movements that can’t be explained coming from inside the cabin.

Rachel Burge uses Norse mythology and the isolated setting to create a creepy tale with a dash of romance.

Other books with frightening happenings in remote places:

Fir by Sharon Gosling

Savage Island by Bryony Pearce

Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver