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Children's Literature in Education

, Volume 43, Issue 4, pp 355–367 | Cite as

Joan Aiken’s Armitage Family Stories: Place and Storytelling as a Way into the World

  • Hannah Kate Sackett
Original Paper
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Abstract

This article explores the importance of place and story in the life and work of Joan Aiken (1924–2004), with a focus on the Armitage Family short stories. It explores the fluid relationship between books, storytelling and place in Joan Aiken’s childhood and looks at her close relationship with the landscape of the Sussex Downs. Particular attention is paid to the short stories “The Land of Trees and Heroes” and “Kitty Snickersnee”. The final section of the article explores the possibilities of drawing on Aiken’s writing, and the work of other relevant authors, in the primary school classroom.

Keywords

Joan Aiken Storytelling Place and landscape Primary education Children as readers and writers 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Lizza Aiken for her permission to use quotations from her introduction to The Complete Armitage Family Stories and quote from the Joan Aiken website. The Armitage Family Stories by Joan Aiken (Copyright © Joan Aiken) reprinted by permission of A.M. Heath & Co Ltd. Many thanks are also due to Gavin J. Grant of Small Beer Press for giving permission to reproduce the front cover of The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.St Martin’s Garden Primary SchoolBathUK
  2. 2.Widcombe Junior SchoolBathUK

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