This is a collection of twenty-four stories about the Armitage family, written by Aiken between 1953 and 1998. She is also the author of the Wolves of Willoughby Chase series and many other children's novels and some Jane Austen sequels. The Armitages are a mother, father, daughter and son (with a new baby son in the very last story). The children are Harriet and Mark, school-aged youths who live in a world similar to our own -- except for the magic that surrounds them and causes them to have an inordinate number of adventures and problems. Before they were born, their mother wished on a magic ring that "lots of interesting and unusual things" would happen to her children. Her wish came true and the Armitage children were never bored.

In these stories, you can find

-unicorns
-mischievous metal men
-ghosts, griffins and goblins
-intolerable aunts and uncles
-wishes
-witches
-witches with grudges
-witches with a taste for children
-thieving witches

and a magical garden that brings about the saddest things to happen in any of these stories. I wish I had found these when I was a kid.

http://webereading.com/2009/10/monday... ( )

The Armitage family frequently have extraordinary things happen to them, especially on Mondays: unicorns in the garden, ghosts in the spare bedroom, sea serpents, and so on. The children, Mark and Harriet, cope admirably and with considerable aplomb.

Great fun, although a bit much read all at once straight through. ( )

Joan Aiken is one of the most neglected and splendid Children's writers. Best-known for her Wolves Chronicles (starting with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase) about the adventures of children in a darkly Dickensian alternate world in which James III rules England.

The tales in The Serial Garden are not as dark but just as inventive and fanciful. The short stories follow the adventures of the Armitage family. An ordinary British Family of the 1950s however Mrs. Armitage on her honeymoon thought happily ever after sounded a little dull and wished on a wishing stone that things would never be boring but they couldn't have adventures everyday so Mondays were good but not always on Monday because that would be boring too.

The adventures focus primarily on the Armitage children, Harriet and Mark who handle a variety of dangerous and magical happenings with a healthy share of creativity and calm British pluck. Whether a Unicorn appears in their garden, or their parents are turned into lady beetles or hatching a Griffin's egg in the linen closet the stories are full of humor and charm.

Aiken was one of those remarkable writers who wrote both for children and adults and her children's books are those that can easily be enjoyed by adults.

I was delighted to find this volume, which collects all the Armitage stories for the first time. ( )

The Armitage family frequently have extraordinary things happen to them, especially on Mondays: unicorns in the garden, ghosts in the spare bedroom, sea serpents, and so on. The children, Mark and Harriet, cope admirably and with considerable aplomb.

Great fun, although a bit much read all at once straight through. ( )