The Ogre of Oglefort Award-winning author by Eva Ibbotson (author) (UK edition)

‘The Ogre must be slain,’ said Norm Number One. ‘Killed,’ said the Second Norm. ‘Pulverized. Absolutely,’ said the Third. Then all three of them pointed to the audience and with one voice they cried: ‘This is the task!’

The annual Summer Meeting of Unusual Creatures is usually quite a gentle affair. But this year’s is different. When an ordinary, unmagical boy called Ivo, a hag, a troll and a wizard are given the task of rescuing a princess from an ogre, they quail. They tremble. They consider running away and hiding. Can they be any match for the gruesome, ghastly, flesh-eating Ogre of Oglefort? But not all is as it seems. The Ogre is depressed and not in the mood for eating anyone. What’s more, the princess doesn’t even WANT to be rescued. So the bossy Norms, who rule over everyone, decide to take things in hand once and for all – and send a gang of the vilest, most petrifying ghouls to get the job done properly… With all her classic hallmarks, this Eva Ibbotson fantasy is a marvellously magical tour-de-force from a born storyteller.

“Deliciously entertaining.” Guardian

“Readers of classic children’s fiction will be familiar with the bliss that steals over one when a new Eva Ibbotson novel is published… How our heroes withstand the siege of Oglefort castle is an adventure strewn with misunderstandings, mistakes and magic.” Amanda Craig, The Times