Story ID: Breakfast Bricks?
Kris
cereal called "Breakfast Bricks", I think. There's a garden printed on the
back of the cardboard boxes that he eventually puts together. There's also a
magic jingle that, when sung, transports the boy *into* the garden. There he
meets a princess, and there's something about a dog (that may be her long
lost prince or something). I think she had made a spell to rendezvous with
her lover in a garden she drew and that never happened, and somehow the
garden got printed on the cereal boxes. I think the story had a sad ending,
like the mother threw away the garden one day or something.
Does that ring any bells for anybody? I'd really like to read it again...
Kris
Elaine Thompson
wrote:
>I read this story years ago about a kid that finds a lot of old boxes of
>cereal called "Breakfast Bricks", I think. There's a garden printed on the
>back of the cardboard boxes that he eventually puts together. There's also a
>magic jingle that, when sung, transports the boy *into* the garden. There he
>meets a princess, and there's something about a dog (that may be her long
>lost prince or something). I think she had made a spell to rendezvous with
>her lover in a garden she drew and that never happened, and somehow the
>garden got printed on the cereal boxes. I think the story had a sad ending,
>like the mother threw away the garden one day or something.
>
The Serial Garden by Joan Aiken, printed in ARMITAGE, ARMITAGE FLY
AWAY HOME.
The tune is the important bit for getting into the garden. Mark sings
the words to the breakfast cereal jingle (Brekkfast Brikks to start
the day Make you fit in every way....") to a melody that turns out to
have been written by the princess' lover who is now his music teacher.
The dog, Lotta, was the music teacher's dog.
You're correct about the ending, but Aiken wrote another short story
later of what happened next. Sort of - it's a subplot in "The
Looking Glass Tree" and was printed in THE FAITHLESS LOLLYBIRD.
Question for the group: Were they any other Mark and Harriet stories
outside of ARMITAGE, ARMITAGE?
You'll probably have to try a library to find it. Bookfinder does
show some copies of ARMITAGE, but the cheapest is $57.50.
--
Elaine Thompson <Ela...@KEThompson.org>
Thank heavens for libraries or we'd never find these stories
--
Elaine Thompson <Ela...@KEThompson.org>
Wendy E. Betts
Elaine Thompson <Ela...@KEThompson.org> wrote:
>Question for the group: Were they any other Mark and Harriet stories
>outside of ARMITAGE, ARMITAGE?
I'm pretty sure I encountered another collection. I remember being
distressed at how sexist the stories were for a book published in the
1980's.
--
"Notes from the Windowsill": http://www.armory.com/~web/notes.html
"`Steph thinks you can wear makeup and still find Narnia.'
`Well, so do I, but why make things harder?'"
-- Pamela Dean, _Juniper, Gentian, & Rosemary_
Nicholas Young
>On Mon, 5 Feb 2001 22:19:01 -0000, "Kris" <kr...@roalddahlfans.com>
>wrote:
>
>>I read this story years ago about a kid that finds a lot of old boxes of
>>cereal called "Breakfast Bricks", I think.
"Brekkfast Brikks", if I remember correctly :-) It's a wonderful story.
[...]
>You're correct about the ending, but Aiken wrote another short story
>later of what happened next. Sort of - it's a subplot in "The
>Looking Glass Tree" and was printed in THE FAITHLESS LOLLYBIRD.
I must find this - I'd love to know what happened.
>Question for the group: Were they any other Mark and Harriet stories
>outside of ARMITAGE, ARMITAGE?
The British editions must be rather different. I have read about 10-15
Mark and Harriet stories, but though I know _Armitage, Armitage, Fly
Away Home_ as one of them, I've never come across a book of that title.
The M/H stories tend to be mixed up among others; so for instance mine
are mostly in _All you've ever wanted / More than you bargained for_
(published together as _All But A Few_) and _A Small Pinch of Weather_.
I think there are one or two in other collections - I must look through
the books.) Incidentally, the other stories in these collections are
also delightful.
You can find some Aiken books over here in print, though I'm not sure
about the collections of short stories. However (to the original
poster) try looking for one of the collections I mention above, since
the story is almost certainly in one of them. I can make absolutely
sure if you like.
Nicholas.
--
Nicholas Young.
Thomas Yan
Elaine Thompson <Ela...@KEThompson.org> wrote:
>On 6 Feb 2001 15:49:12 GMT, ty...@twinkie.cs.cornell.edu (Thomas Yan)
>wrote:
>
>>Elaine Thompson <Ela...@KEThompson.org> wrote:
>
>snip the story summary
>
>>>The Serial Garden by Joan Aiken, printed in ARMITAGE, ARMITAGE FLY
>>>AWAY HOME.
>>
>>which I recently (last few years) acquired (I think I bought it new
>>from the UK), just to get that story.
>
>And I acquired ARMITAGE for that story. Not that the others in it
>aren't good, too.
How long did that take? I checked abebooks, which lists 4 ranging in
price from $60 to $100.
>>>You're correct about the ending, but Aiken wrote another short story
>>>later of what happened next. Sort of - it's a subplot in "The
>>>Looking Glass Tree" and was printed in THE FAITHLESS LOLLYBIRD.
>>
>>Oh god! Do you think it is a fitting follow-on? Now that I know
>>about it, I want to read it, but I'm a little scared to.
>
>Yes.
>
>How much do you want to know about it? I've written and deleted more
>detail vague and specific - don't want to ruin anything for you.
"Yes" is good enough for me. I'll look for the book, and if/when I
find it, we can trade impressions.
--
Thomas Yan (ty...@cs.cornell.edu) I don't speak for Cornell University
Computer Science Department \\ Cornell University \\ Ithaca, NY 14853
(please pardon any lack of capitalization; my hands hurt from typing)
Thomas Yan
Ann Burlingham <an...@concentric.net> wrote:
>Elaine Thompson wrote:
>
>> Question for the group: Were they any other Mark and Harriet stories
>> outside of ARMITAGE, ARMITAGE?
>>
>> You'll probably have to try a library to find it. Bookfinder does
>> show some copies of ARMITAGE, but the cheapest is $57.50.
>
>sure _arabella's raven_ hasn't been in print for years, and I
>know one of my favorite books of all time, _not what you
>expected_, is long out of print. her short stories can be
>fantastic.
Would that be _Arabel's Raven_? How about a description, pretty please?
LostLvs
Small print runs in the early years -- in America, her hardcovers seem to have
been marketed to the library trade. Also a large and growing number of fans who
exceed the supply of books.
Which means that when books do come to the market (and would you give up any of
yours?), the prices tend to be high or else the book sells very quickly.
What you may try is leaving a want on ABE or Bibliofind. This way, you'll be
e-mailed whenever somebody lists a particular title. When I get "bargains"
from ABE, this is the way that I find them.
Good luck! Took me several years to find SMOKE FROM CROMWELL'S TIME.
Regards,
Rosemary Jones, los...@aol.com
co-author, Collector's Guide to Children's Books, v1-3
links to useful children's book collecting sites:
http://members.aol.com/lostlvs/links.htm
Elaine Thompson
wrote:
>In article <2hj08tsgrhuo5kr2h...@4ax.com>,
>Elaine Thompson <Ela...@KEThompson.org> wrote:
>>On 6 Feb 2001 15:49:12 GMT, ty...@twinkie.cs.cornell.edu (Thomas Yan)
>>wrote:
>>
>>>Elaine Thompson <Ela...@KEThompson.org> wrote:
>>
>>snip the story summary
>>
>>>>The Serial Garden by Joan Aiken, printed in ARMITAGE, ARMITAGE FLY
>>>>AWAY HOME.
>>>
>>>As someone else said, also available in _A Small Pinch of Weather_,
>>>which I recently (last few years) acquired (I think I bought it new
>>>from the UK), just to get that story.
>>
>>And I acquired ARMITAGE for that story. Not that the others in it
>>aren't good, too.
>
>How long did that take? I checked abebooks, which lists 4 ranging in
>price from $60 to $100.
Some months, but not years and years of looking.
>
>>>>You're correct about the ending, but Aiken wrote another short story
>>>>later of what happened next. Sort of - it's a subplot in "The
>>>>Looking Glass Tree" and was printed in THE FAITHLESS LOLLYBIRD.
>>>
>>>Oh god! Do you think it is a fitting follow-on? Now that I know
>>>about it, I want to read it, but I'm a little scared to.
>>
>>Yes.
>>
>>How much do you want to know about it? I've written and deleted more
>>detail vague and specific - don't want to ruin anything for you.
>
>"Yes" is good enough for me. I'll look for the book, and if/when I
>find it, we can trade impressions.
Does your library have it?
I'll be interested in your impressions.
--
Elaine Thompson <Ela...@KEThompson.org>
Elaine Thompson
wrote:
>
>
>Why on earth are Joan Aiken books so hard to find? I'm pretty
>sure _arabella's raven_ hasn't been in print for years, and I
>know one of my favorite books of all time, _not what you
>expected_, is long out of print. her short stories can be
>fantastic.
>
>
shrug. I wonder if she's too prolific for publishers to afford
keeping all her work in print?
Arabel's Raven is in print in England as part of an omnibus _The
Adventures of Arabel and Mortimer_ according to Amazon's UK site.
"The Adventures of Arabel and Mortimer (Containing Arabel and the
Escaped Black Mamba, Arabel's Raven, Mortimer's Portrait on Glass
and The Bread Bin)
Joan Aiken, Quentin Blake(Illustrator)
Usually dispatched in 24 hours
BBC Consumer Publishing (Books)
Paperback - 1993
List Price: £11.99
Our Price: £9.59
oh, on looking deeper, it's not an omnibus, it's a slipcased set of
four. That doesn't look like a bad price, either, for four books,
even when you add shipping.
I never ran across the Arabel stories, what are they like?
--
Elaine Thompson <Ela...@KEThompson.org> who sees an Arabel book in her
library's catalog so will check it out next time she visits.
Debbie Gascoyne
Elaine Thompson wrote:.
>
> I never ran across the Arabel stories, what are they like?
Very funny; like slightly more twisted Paddington stories. There's
another one called _Mortimer's Cross_, too. And the Quentin Blake
illustrations are perfect.
Debbie
Thomas Yan
Elaine Thompson <Ela...@KEThompson.org> wrote:
>On 7 Feb 2001 15:00:23 GMT, ty...@twinkie.cs.cornell.edu (Thomas Yan)
>wrote:
>
>>
>>"Yes" is good enough for me. I'll look for the book, and if/when I
>>find it, we can trade impressions.
>
>Does your library have it?
>
>I'll be interested in your impressions.
Neither the university library nor the public library have it, but I
located a copy via abebooks, so I should get it within a week or two
and report back.
(Also, I often don't like borrowing from the library: when I want to
read a book can be erratic, so I'd need to return or renew the books.
Plus, I got especially annoyed at reading books by interlibrary loan.
Yes, it is a way to get to read books that are out of print, but they
arrive at random times, sometimes are on microfiche, and often are
lent for short periods. These days, I tend to buy the books I read.)
Julian9EHP
>Elaine Thompson wrote:.
I love Arabel. The humor works on multiple levels: one involves the idea of a
perfect little girl. (So much like real life -- NOT!) I don't like the later
stories so much. They seem coy.
E. P.