Eva Ibbotson Books

At the library, I checked out a collection of three novels by one of the great beloved children authors, Eva Ibbotson. Yes, she wrote A Countess Below Stairs, which I didn't like that much, but a couple of her other novels are really good. This collection included:
Which Witch?
The Secret of Platform 13
Island of the Aunts
I've read The Secret of Platform 13 before, so I skipped that one this time. I read Which Witch and Island of the Aunts. Now, I've also read Island of the Aunts before, and it is my favorite book by her, so of course I had to reread it. Actually, that's what I was looking for in the library in the first place.
So this is the one I hadn't read before. It's about a wizard, Arriman, who wants to take a wife to pass on his incredibly black powers to because he is getting old. He holds a competition with all the witches from his hometown to see which one can do the blackest magic. Now, everyone wants Belladonna to marry Arriman, but she is a white witch, white since birth, and can do no black magic, so she doesn't stand a chance. Or does she? When her new friend shows her an earthworm named Rover, she finds she can do any black magic she sets her mind to and is sure to win the competition and Arriman's heart for sure. And then Rover disappears. Yep, CLIFFHANGER!
This is like The Sword in the Stone combined with Cinderella, a very good combination if you throw in a little witchcraft. I have to admit, I was starting to think Eva Ibbotson had no other really good books besides Island of the Aunts, but Which Witch was pretty good.
Speaking of Island of the Aunts... This book is CRAZY GOOD. It's about these ladies who live on an island with their extremely old and daft (love that word) father. They care for all sorts of mistreated creatures on the island, from seals to birds to crabs to mermaids to boobries (I know, what the heck is that?). But these ladies are getting older so they decide to get a couple of children to help run the island. They finally find some kids that aren't spoiled brats and take them to the island. But the last aunt, Myrtle, has no luck and ends up with a rotten kid named Lambert. Lambert accidentally knocked himself out with her chloroform, and she didn't want to leave him there, so she brought him to the island too. The two good kids, Fabio and Minette, spend every day caring for the creatures on the island and getting along. They don't even miss their old life. But what happens when Lambert makes contact with his rich, greedy father? Or when the kraken, biggest and most respected creature in the sea, comes to stay?
I read this book first when I was like eight or nine years old. I loved it then, and it is SO a children's book, so I'm a little old for it now, but I still love it now. All the creatures make you want to go stay at that island, and the aunts seem fun to get to know.
So if you don't read Which Witch, at least read Island of the Aunts, because it is a children's classic for any kid who likes to read. Actually, even if the kid doesn't like to read, force them to read it anyway. It's good for them.