The story follows the two children who are kidnapped by three sisters to help them take care of their island. Their captors, however, turn out to be kind and quirky women, the island full of amazing and magical creatures, and their lives there much better than those they lived with their families back at home.
This was one of my favorite books from around 6th grade or so, and I still reread it from time to time now.
Eva Ibbotson can always be counted on for fun and interesting fantasy stories, and "Island of the Aunts" is no exception. ( )

I really liked the funny characters in this book and their adventures. There are tons of enjoyable fantasy characters too. ( )

I read this in 5th or 6th grade. Very good. ( )

"Kidnapping children is not a good idea. All the same, sometimes it has to be done."

So begins Eva Ibbotson's book Island of the Aunts. It's a story about an island where three eccentric aunts take care of mermaids and other mythical creatures. One day the aunts decide they need to kidnap some children to help them take care of the creatures — and the story takes off from there. Three children are kidnapped through various means and brought to the island to help the aunts in their work.

This story was fairly enjoyable for the most part, though I could have done without the slightly preachy environmentalist/every-living-thing-is-a-person stuff. In some places the humor reminded me of Roald Dahl (just a bit). It was also a little like The Perilous Journey (sequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society) but I liked this book much more. The humor of the opening line is subtly scattered throughout the story. I would have enjoyed more of it.

I did not feel the characters were very memorable. Also, the plot was predictable, which is why I'm giving this book three stars. The prose was good, but nothing brilliant. Overall, an enjoyable though not very memorable book. ( )

One of those weird occurrences when you're browsing through the library trying to find something to check out so you don't get in trouble and it turns out to actually be pretty good. I just love the plot of the book, it's so hilarious if you think about it carefully, but it's still very good. You could probably go through life without reading though, so don't waste your time if you're not a reading addict who has to read anything within grasp, it's something that you read on a chance encounter and you'll probably eventually forget you ever read it, I had to wrack my brains to remember the title. But it's worth reading, so, don't forget to grab it if you ever see it on your local library's shelf. ( )