Arabel's Raven

Fun and pleasantly quirky, but dragged on rather--I was ready for it to end quite a while before it did (though my six-year-old wasn't! thought the whole thing was freaking hilarious). Mortimer the raven and little human Arabel are likeable, and Arabel seems like a real and interesting child rather than being annoyingly perfect or stereotypical.

Bonus points for having a competent and fun male babysitter: I imagine if this book were written today, Chris would be a "she"! Anyway, it's nice to see a nurturing, capable young man interacting with a child in a children's book.

Originally published in Britain under the title Tales of Arabel's Raven, this book includes three humorous stories that introduce young Arabel Jones and her raven companion, Mortimer.

In Arabel's Raven, a taxi-driver named Ebenezer Jones rescues a raven that he sees run down by two thieves on a motorcycle, and brings him home. His daughter, Arabel, who knows as soon as she sees him that his name is Mortimer, falls in love, and trouble is not long to follow. In The Breadbin, Mrs. Jones learns that it is best to let Mortimer have his own way, even if he does want to sleep in the breadbin. And in The Escaped Black Mamba and Other Things, Mortimer's talent for destruction and Mrs. Jones' propensity to worry combine to create a zany series of show more misunderstandings, that the local police decide must have been a "mass hallucination."

This wonderful series seems aimed at a slightly younger audience than that of Aiken's novels, and is illustrated by Quentin Blake, famous for his illustrations of Roald Dahl. Aiken manages to convey a satisfying sense of emotion in Mortimer, despite his inability to say anything other than "Nevermore," and the deadpan humor of these comedies of error is quiet but persistent.

As a side note, it is worth mentioning that although these stories are available in the US and Britain in four collections, they have all also been published individually in Britain. show less

I decided to give this one a try because I had recently read [A necklace of Raindrops] and like Aiken's style of storytelling, and this one is illustrated by [[Quentin Blake]], who is amazing, of course. I wasn't a bit disappointed in it. This is a quirky little book about a sweet little girl and her quirky pet raven, Mortimer, and the quirky happenings that surround them. I loved it.

There are lots of ways in which this was funny, and the narration was excellent. But Mortimer's habits were so destructive that I became somewhat bored.

The first story about Arabel and her pet raven Mortimer. In Arabel's Raven, Mr Jones, while driving his taxi, notices something bedraggled in the road. He stops and discovers an injured raven. He takes it home and his four-year-old daughter Arabel falls in love at first sight. 'His name is Mortimer,' she announces and Mortimer has found a home. A series of thefts and a robber quarrel are only two of the dramas in this delightful tale in which Mortimer and Arabel find their ways straight to the reader's heart.
This story was originally published in the collection, Tales of Arabel's Raven.

This is a fun romp of a book, reminiscent of Paddington (tho I don’t know for sure, I think he predates Arabel and her bird) in the quantity and constancy of trouble the silly and spoiled animal gets himself into, with all being made right in the end.

Cute, clever story that will make you chuckle. The characters are simple personalities that all add to the completeness of the story. Each is peculiar in his or her or raven's way that makes for a fun adventure with an unlikely and often misunderstood bird. Thank goodness for characters such as Arabel who remind us to accept that which annoys us in others and to learn to find scruffy characters as endearing friends. Enjoyable with a few endearing chuckles out loud.