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Just a few weeks ago, I did a short post on the recently deceased children’s writer Eva Ibbotson.  I picked up a few of her books at my local library, and became instantly engrossed in one of them, so much so, that it became my bedtime read, rather than my daughter’s!  That book was Journey to the River Sea (Macmillan, 2001).  Set a hundred years ago near the turn of the century, the story features a young orphaned girl, Maia, who is sent on a journey from England to distant relatives, the Carters.  The  Carters live on a rubber plantation on the banks of the Amazon river near the city of Manaus.  Maia is accompanied by a governess, Miss Minton, who must not only educate Maia, but the twin daughters of the Carters, Beatrice and Gwendolyn.

Maia is intrigued by the adventure that lies ahead of her.  She is fascinated in particular by the Amazon River and is eager to experience this new part of world.  She and Miss Minton board the RMS Cardinal and make the journey across the ocean to South America.  While on board, Maia befriends a young boy actor named Clovis, who has been ‘adopted’ by the Goodleys.  The Goodley’s run a theatre troupe and plan to stage Little Lord Fauntleroy at the Manaus Theatre with Clovis as the lead.  Maia promises Clovis that she will do her best to meet up with him once they arrive at the city.

Now, rather then give you any more of the story, I insist you get out the book.  Suffice it to say, the Carters are not quite the family Maia expects and she has many more adventures once she arrives at their house.  I found Journey to the River Sea to be a riveting and captivating read.  The characters are fully developed and dynamic; the jungle and plantation setting marvelously evoked, and the unfolding of the story’s event evenly paced.  I kept thinking to myself what a marvelous movie this would make, but of course, as a story in a book, it is also quite fine as it is.  If you are reading chapter books to your children, I’d certainly recommend this one to keep both mother and child entertained.  Or, as in my case, simply  ‘mother’ entertained!

Eva Ibbotson, renown British children’s author died recently.  A lengthy obituary was published in the Telegraph.  After reading it, I became curious about her books and sought them out at the library.  What a delightful discovery!  I got four of her chapter books: Journey to the River Sea (Macmillan, 2001,) The Beasts of Clawstone Castle (Macmillan, 2005,) Which Witch (Dutton, 1995) and Island of the Aunts (Dutton, 1999.)  As per my usual custom, I read the first paragraph of each book aloud to my daughter for her to decide which one we would pursue for our bedtime reading.  They all started off so brilliantly, it really was hard to choose but we settled on Which Witch which is, by the way, rather appropriate for Halloween today!  Here’s the opening: As soon as he was born, Mr. and Mrs. Canker knew their baby was not like other people’s children. Curious?!  Do get out the book and by reading it, commemorate the memory of this wonderful children’s author.