On "The Serial Garden": A Book Review

As is readily apparent, I completely failed to post anything  for the month of January. However, this has led me to consider that I would really much rather be doing my Book Review posts at the beginning of the month, so here you have the first post of the year. 

Title: The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories
Author: Joan Aiken
Genre: Children's, Fiction

About the Book... 
In the 1960's Joan Aiken wrote her first story about the Armitage family and their unusual and magical Mondays, or rather mostly unusual and magical Mondays, and continued writing stories throughout the rest of her life. Filled with unicorns, witches (politely referred to as Little Old Fairy Ladies), ghosts, and other fantastical creatures, this is the complete collection of all the Armitage family stories.

What I Think...


Joan Aiken is a favorite of mine (review for her Necklace of Raindrops here), so this book is actually a re-read for me and one that I'm happy to have on my bookshelf. 

The stories in this collection are amusing and witty and while I don't find the later stories to be as good (in particular one entitled "The Chinese Dragon," which comes off as a bit silly), there's very little to dislike about any of them. Aiken typically handles the magic in her stories in a very mater of fact way, which is part of what I like about her. She doesn't make a big fuss or have her characters appear overly shocked over things like tiny people as neighbors, that they need to pay for a unicorn license, or any sort of magical tree, but presents it in a way that makes it seem like it is very much part of the normal everyday world of the story even when it is extraordinary. Going along with that, the magical characters, whether human, beast, or supernatural, are all very believable as beings without any additional buildup. 

My favorite stories in the collection are probably "The Ghostly Governess," in which Harriet and Mark unintentionally become the night time charges of the ghost of a very old-fashioned governess, and the title story, "The Serial Garden," in which Mark puts together a cardboard garden with interesting consequences (it also has the added bonus of having a sequel).

It's worth noting, the Virago UK edition (which is the one I have) doesn't have the lovely introduction by Garth Nix and that they stories are presented in a different order, but everything else between the two seems to be the same.   

To Sum it All Up...
A collection I have found well worth revisiting and that I will continue to revisit over and over again! ♥️