Eva Ibbotson: Writer of Theme, Characterization, and Imagery

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Eva Ibbotson: Writer of Theme, Characterization, and Imagery

British author Eva Ibbotson was one of the most imaginative writers to come about. Michael Morpurgo states, “Eva Ibbotson weaves a magic like no other. Once enchanted, always enchanted” (“Eva Ibbotson Dies Aged 85”). She may not have been well-known, but she was still admired among the people who were familiar with her works, and she was able to sell many novels. Ibbotson was born in 1925 in Vienna, Austria. She later moved to London, England, where she lived the remainder of her life. Her life ended on October 20, 2010. She was a full-time writer, but she had been a former schoolteacher and university teacher before (“Eva Ibbotson (1925-) Biography…”). Most of her books are meant for children and young adults. This could be because she had worked with kids for a large part of her years as a teacher. In addition, Ibbotson had spent her childhood transferring back and forth to her separated parents’ houses. Michelle Pauli states, “Ibbotson described this period of her childhood as "cosmopolitan but unhappy" and she attributed to it her desire for happy endings in which her characters always find a home.” Eva Ibbotson was “A self-confessed "happy endings freak", she expressed some bemusement at trends for darker children's fiction and her books always reassured young readers that good would be rewarded and that spoilt brats and greedy grown-ups would get their comeuppance (Pauli). She was also one to use different methods to seize her young audience’s attention. In her works, she used theme, characterization, and imagery to convey to her readers special literary aspects of the story.

In Eva Ibbotson’s book, The Great Ghost Rescue, she used the theme to demons...

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...- Personal, Addresses, Career, Honors Awards, Writings,

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1st ed. London: Macmillan, 1975. Print.

---. The Secret of Platform 13.

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---. Which Witch?

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